When I Stand This Close (It's Almost Blinding)
by indehed
Summary: (McDanno) Trying to find out what magic Danny possesses attracts unwanted attention to the Five-0 task force from Government agencies and Steve's old enemy. As Steve does his best to protect his partner he keeps him as close as possible, so the only way for Victor Hesse to get to Danny (and sate his revenge) is to get McGarrett out of the way by framing him for murder...
1. Chapter 1

**Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampires, Alternate Universe - Magic  
**

 **Pairing: Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams**

 **Spoilers/Warnings: possessive!Steve. Spoilers for these four chapters are specifically for 1.19, 1.23, 1.24, 2.01.**

 **Author's note: The vampire mythology I use is influenced by The Lair, The Vampire Diaries and Moonlight but is pretty much a general mishmash of random vampire lore. Hopefully it's all understandable!**

 **Originally published (on ao3): March 2013**

 **Sequel to 'Seeing a Light (a face in the crowd) and None Like You (You Shine so Bright). Best to read these ones in order.**

* * *

If there was something that made Danny uncomfortable it was keeping secrets from the team, but he also didn't want them being put in danger because of him. As it was though, Steve had given him very little choice. He had been reluctant to use his contacts in Naval Intelligence for this until they knew more about what they were dealing with.

Whatever was wrong with Danny, they didn't have enough information yet.

That was exactly how Danny looked at the situation - clearly something must be wrong with him.

After the incident with the bomb collar a few months back, Chin and Steve had done some vague experiments with different devices used to detect magic and all of them had spiked when close to Danny. The excuse of 'it must be broken' didn't work when three separate MDF machines all gave the same readings - readings Danny wasn't fond of because they were high. If he did have magic, it made no sense because he couldn't use it. He'd tried, at the team's behest, to light a candle with his mind. He told them it was stupid after 5 minutes of staring with nothing happening so he'd walked off in search of coffee.

Instead they'd begun to research. Their only problem was that they wanted to keep it secret. Sure, doing some google searches at first was fine - they could pretend it was for a case. But nothing came up in general searches about magic and about the Guild.

The Guild were an organization not to be messed with and Danny had hoped and prayed when Grace was born that she didn't manifest. Rachel had a cousin who was a practitioner, but nothing closer. Luckily, Grace had never accidentally set anything on fire or shown any telekinetic ability, and Danny had never been so relieved. The Guild was notoriously secret, and kids who manifested were usually taken away to boarding schools, ostensibly with parental consent, but Danny always suspected they were scared into doing it. Parents were lucky to see their kids during holidays, and even then, it could be a big part of their children's lives they would miss out on - especially if the talents skipped a generation, and parents didn't know what their kids were going through. As Rachel had put it once: 'there's no way we are sending our child to bloody Hogwarts, Daniel'.

Magic was strictly controlled. It was licensed. The Governments had insisted on it, especially after The Wars in the late 17the century. Nowadays it was just like having another form of ID. If Danny did have magic, like Steve insisted, then they were skirting the lines of legality by not coming forward about it.

As the team delved in, they couldn't find anything of interest until a search brought them to a stone tablet at a museum in Scotland. The website had pictures of it with most of the words now too faded to read, but in a translation it mentioned something about the light of the sun, something about a key and protection. It had been enough for Steve to latch onto and for some wacky reason, he'd reached out to a friend at Navel Intel who pointed them towards the D.o.D and then he proceeded to drag Danny to Toast, who hacked the D.o.D Guild Branch for them.

A whole bunch of redacted files later about protection spells cast during the Cold War and Danny was as confused as ever and Steve gave the computers death glares.

After they had the files, Steve spent as much time as he could going over them, though the important information was hidden under big black marks that Danny knew Steve couldn't intimidate to give up their secrets. After a few days they hadn't got any closer to answers, and Steve's intense possessiveness reared its head again. It had resulted in another 'Talk' about balance in their relationship and just when Danny would indulge Steve's Neanderthal side - something Steve maintained wasn't Neanderthal at all, but entirely vampiric in nature. Danny didn't believe him, instead he chose to think that McGarrett had always been a possessive bastard considering what he knew of his background from even before he'd been turned into a vampire. With issues of his mother disappearing and his father dying when he was still young, Steve clearly had abandonment issues that Danny was sure were now manifesting in his need to keep those things that he loved close to him.

That morning, they'd taken separate cars to work. Danny insisted that they try to have both cars on standby more often, in case they needed them for a case, but it was also because he needed a moment of peace from Steve's overbearing protection.

They left at the same time, and arrived roughly together, which is why Steve's first question when they met up after parking seemed pretty stupid.

"Did you stop for malasadas this morning?"

"No."

"Is that evidence from a case of something?"

Danny glanced to the brown bag in his hand then back up to Steve confused. For a guy who tended to watch Danny like a hawk at times, he must have really been in a world of his own that morning if he hadn't realized Danny had been in the kitchen for longer than normal. Didn't mean he was going to make things easy on the guy. "No."

"You know, just stop, stop," Steve's hand shot out to halt Danny's tracks as he moved in front of him. "What's in the bag, just… what's in the bag?"

Danny looked about himself, seeing if anyone walking by would sympathize with him for what he had to put up with. "It's my lunch. Genius."

"Your lunch? What did you bring?" Steve challenged.

"You've got to know every last minute detail of my life? We talked about this Steven! What's it to you what my lunch is? Is it because I already know what you're having? 'Cause right now you're looking at stale blood from the fridge. For a week," he threatened.

"What? Why don't you want to tell me if it's just your lunch? It's not like I'm going to steal it. What is it, some deep fried sub you've had flown in from Jersey?"

"It's a salad. Salad, okay?" Steve made a grab for the bag that Danny deflected. "There's nothing else in here, just a salad. Grace has been taking nutrition class and she is concerned about my cholesterol so I promised her that I would eat better."

Suitably chastised, Steve stood with wounded aneurism face on as he scowled. "Huh. That is actually incredibly sweet."

"I appreciate that," Danny answered as he put the salad away and then dragged Steve by the arm into the building. As they made their way up the steps, he turned back to Steve. "You're forgiven, by the way, for being such a goof. But you're still drinking fridge blood today."

"What? Why?" Steve pouted.

"What did I just say? Grace is concerned about my health and since you insist on getting sugar into me after drinking, it will completely nullify this lovely yet entirely boring lunch I have with me. So not today, babe."

"Maybe it's not so sweet after all…" Steve trailed off on a sigh.

"I feel you, babe. This whole modern eating thing is just ridiculous to me. I mean, when I was a kid we ate whatever we wanted, you know what I mean?"

"Not anymore, buddy," Steve said as they sauntered in through the doors to their offices.

"Hold up," Danny stopped them. "Who's that?" He pointed into Steve's office at the figure of a woman in a suit standing waiting.

"I don't know," Steve said slowly, then turned to Danny. "Wait here, okay?"

"You get to stick your nose into my life and I can't go find out who our visitor is?"

"We hacked the D.o.D last week, Danny. I'm not taking any chances. Stay."

"Not a dog, Steven."

"Good boy," Steve threw over his shoulder as he left Danny behind.

"Woof," Danny muttered as he headed to the kitchen area and shoved his salad in, purposely choosing a different shelf to Chin and Steve's blood supplies. He set about making himself a coffee while trying to carefully get a look into Steve's office to tell what was going on, but they were standing in the wrong line of sight.

* * *

Steve stopped in his door, trying to measure the woman in front of him, already wary of her despite her build. "Can I help you?"

She turned around with an air of arrogance, "Jenna Kaye. Central Intelligence Agency. Guild Branch."

Mention of the Guild immediately worried him but he'd been around a long time and knew how to hide nerves. He summoned her closer so he could see her badge. "Special Agent Kaye, what can I do for you?"

"I believe you know a man called Adam Charles." At Steve's blank glare she continued. "He goes by the hacker name 'Toast'."

"It's possible that he's a confidential informant. But I don't see what that has to do with the CIA."

"He hacked into the Department of Defense last week."

"Okay but why is the Guild's CIA branch getting involved?"

"It's more about what he was looking for. We know that he downloaded Top Secret files from the 60s and 70s related to the use of magic. I spoke with him this morning. Did you know he had glandular problems? Sweats a lot under pressure…."

"Why don't you just tell me what you're here about?" Steve asked impatiently, though he already knew where this was headed. His mind working overtime for excuses, cover stories and how to keep Agent Kaye away from Danny.

"I know that he handed a copy of those files to you, Commander McGarrett, which leads me to believe that he did the hack on your behalf. I need you to hand over all copies of those files that you have."

"You're mistaken, I don't have what you're talking about."

"You're a vampire, Commander, I know magic doesn't work on you, but it will work on the members of your team who aren't. I've done my homework, I have memorized everything about you and the three others you work with. I know that if I want to get to the truth, then perhaps Detective Williams or Officer Kalakaua would be more forthcoming. Or perhaps an easier route would be to have my Director call your Governor and compel you to hand over the files."

"Are you threatening me?" Steve leaned on his desk, measuring the woman before him.

"I just want to know if you're going to make things hard on yourself, or are we going to get along?" She stood, hands clasped together in front of her body looking calm and collected. Steve had known practitioners over the years but for the most part he stayed away from magic. In this moment he could see why Danny was hesitant to associate himself with them in any way. She was being far too smug.

That was when Danny pushed the door to the office open and when Steve looked up, this was one time he couldn't hide the fear in his eyes.

"Hey, we got something, sorry to interrupt," Danny said and Steve immediately cut him off with a 'be right there,' hoping Danny would disappear out of sight before Kaye turned around. His worry was too evident in his eyes and his voice, which peaked Kaye's curiosity and before Danny could finish closing the door, she turned to him and Steve watched her eyes widen.

"Hey!" She stopped him with a raised voice before he could walk away. Danny re-opened the door. Steve shook his head, knowing Kaye couldn't see, but Danny's eyes darting between the two of them were confused.

Kaye looked Danny over, "You're not… I read your file there was nothing in there."

Danny put his hands in his pockets and looked at Steve for clarity. Again, all Steve could do was shake his head and widen his eyes hoping Danny would heed the warning.

"That's insulting. I'm pretty sure my file is more impressive that 'nothing'. I know for a fact I've got a great conviction record."

Steve had no choice but to step in. "This is Agent Kaye. She's from the CIA, Guild Branch." He emphasized his last point.

"The Guild Branch?" Steve watched as Danny took his hands out of his pockets and rubbed them together almost nervously. "That's very nice, we don't get a lot of you guys around here. Surprising really considering the whole Island spirituality thing."

Kaye held her hand out to Danny, who reached forward slowly to shake hers in return. Before Steve could try to somehow stop Danny from doing so, the two of them were touching. Danny hadn't had much choice but to shake a hand offered to him, it was probably just automatic to do so, but it was a poor choice - practitioners could always sense the magic in another person by touch.

Kaye closed her eyes in concentration for a moment before opening them and looking sternly at Danny. "I wasn't mistaken."

"Mistaken about what?" Danny sounded calm, but Steve knew him well enough to hear the worry underneath.

"You have magic."

"I'm sorry?"

"I can feel it." She looked over him. "I can see it," she frowned.

Danny looked down at himself then back to her. "See what?"

"That light," she said. "It's not something that can be hidden. As a practitioner, you know that."

Danny looked over at Steve. He had always made fun of Steve for the 'glow' and 'light' comments he made, thinking the vampire mad, but to have someone else mention it to him, it was as if Danny couldn't deny it anymore. But just because someone else confirmed what Steve saw, it didn't change things for the better. The fact that a member of the Guild had taken one look at Danny and spotted him could be really bad. Steve would not let them take Danny away from him.

"I'm not a practitioner."

"You're not registered," Kaye narrowed her eyes. "I don't know how you've done it, staying hidden like this, but things are becoming clearer…" She turned and glared at Steve who stepped around his desk again and came closer to Danny.

"He's not a practitioner. We haven't been able to explain the 'glow' yet." He put his hands together in front of himself, using both to gesture up and down Danny's body.

"You…? How can you know what he looks like? You're a vampire, you can't see magic."

"He's a freak. He can see something."

"Hey!" Steve chastised the other man for giving away information to someone who was not just a stranger to them but part of the freaking GUILD.

"What? If I'm getting in trouble for something that's not my fault, then you're going down with me, babe. Misery loves company. And besides, all this talk of 'glowing' and frankly I've never seen anyone glow, not even you." He pouted at Agent Kaye, "And I assume you're supposed to if you work for the Guild."

"I do, you should be able to see it." Agent Kaye responded, her eyes moving between them both like she was watching a tennis match.

"Danny!" Steve interrupted. "Would you shut up for a minute? I'm trying to make sure they don't do anything to you, you're not making it easy."

"Gentlemen, as cute as this routine is, I'm going to have to launch an investigation into this. An unregistered practitioner? I hope you realize how serious this is."

"For the love of God," Danny threw his head back, "I'm not a practitioner. Whatever the hell it is that you people seem to think is wrong with me, it's a recent development. Some kind of sickness, I don't know. We want answers, okay?"

"I can't give you answers unless you're honest with me. As it is you should have contacted the Guild before now."

"No, because we all know what the Guild does. You take people away from families. I have a daughter, a daughter that I followed to Hawai'i for the measly two weekends a month I get to spend with her. I get here, to this volcanic purgatory, and this goofy vampire latches onto me and now I'm stuck with him as well, so forgive us for not trusting that the Guild would simply explain things to us and walk away and let us live our lives."

Kaye stared at Danny while he ranted. Steve, admittedly, kind of enjoyed it as he watched Danny stand his ground. When the rants weren't directed at him, they were entertaining, and just a little bit of a turn on.

There was silence for a moment once he finished before Kaye stepped closer to him. With a silent incantation on her lips she brought forth a fireball in her hand. It was small and rested on her palm burning slowly.

"Take this," she gestured to Danny.

"What are you nuts?" Danny reeled back. "My father was a fire fighter and he taught me well so I know that fire BURNS. Why would I willingly take that from you?"

"Because if you don't, I'm going to have you taken away and locked in a Guild prison for false identity. I'm sure a good lawyer would get you out in a few weeks."

Danny looked up at Steve. They had little choice - jail time and separation from each other, or Danny gets a burn on his hand.

"This is going to hurt," Danny winced as he leaned forward. He scooped his hand into Kaye's but a few moments later he dropped the fire and it went out mid-air. He pulled his hand back with a yelp and cradled it to his chest in pain. "Son of a BITCH."

He turned from them both and then back to face them just as quickly, lumping Steve into his anger. "Are you happy now? Does injuring me prove a point to you?"

Steve reached out for Danny's hand, "Let me see."

Kaye moved closer as Steve forced Danny's hand open from where he'd fisted it up in the pain. Red marks from the burn were clear, but they watched as they faded and disappeared. All three of them looked at it with different expressions of shock and wonderment.

"Does it still hurt?" Steve asked.

"It tingles," Danny said, voice roughened.

Kaye looked between them. "That kind of reaction only happens to those recently manifesting. Children mostly. I've never seen a fully grown adult manifest so late. This doesn't make any sense."

"What reaction?" Danny asked.

"The magic you have protects you, instinctively, from harm. The fact that you were burned initially means that the connection between your body and the magic in you isn't fully up to speed."

"But it healed. Magic does that? Speeds healing?"

"Only with injuries caused by direct conjuring," Kaye answered. "The fire wasn't real. I willed it into existence and the magic in you knows it doesn't exist. You can't be hurt by something that isn't real."

"That's just confusing," Danny said.

"It's the best way that I can explain it right now. After proper schooling, people tend to understand it better."

"She just took a dig at my intelligence, Steve,"

"Yes, she did, but let it go, Danny, at least she believes us."

"I need to look into this, there's something strange going on here… late manifestation, the fact that a vampire can see base magic? None of this makes any sense. No wonder you hacked the D.o.D."

"No, no, no," Danny tried to stop Kaye from leaving the office. "No looking into things, we've been keeping this quiet for a reason. Reasons I already explained."

"I'm sorry, Detective. It's my job." She took off before they could find a better reason to stop her.

"Steve, this is not good." Danny held up his now uninjured hand and waved it in front of Steve's face. "Because of your stupid idea to investigate, we've now got the CIA, D.o.D and the Guild breathing down our necks! What the hell?!"

"I'm sorry, Danny, but we need answers that maybe only the Guild can give us. But I promise you, okay? No one is going to take you away from Grace, I will not let them. I'm going to be by your side the whole time." He pulled Danny into a hug that Danny returned reluctantly after a few seconds, arms winding around Steve's back.

Steve took a breath, remembering why Danny had interrupted in the first place. "We caught a case?"

"Yeah, we've got a body. Max is on his way already."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been one of the worst days of Steve's life.

The morning had started with such promise. He woke next to Danny, early enough to steal some extra time with him before getting up to another sunny and warm day in Honolulu. A lead they'd been chasing down for a few days had wielded results, and now they were confident they had the new house Victor Hesse was laying low in.

Then everything turned into one of Steve's worst nightmares.

No Victor Hesse. Instead they found only Sang Min, whose explosives had caught the SWAT team by surprise and injured three of them. The resultant foot chase had led to another house where Sang Min was able to escape.

Moments later, the worst thing imaginable happened - Danny was hurt. Not just hurt but poisoned. As he'd come out of that house and collapsed, Steve had rushed over. He felt helpless not seeing an injury that he could do something about, use field medical training, first aid, something. Danny couldn't breath and Steve couldn't will the man's lungs to work. Tearing himself away from his lover, he'd gone to investigate what had happened. The dead body on the floor was the only indicator until he noticed the milk carton and the smell. The smell he recognized. He'd seen it before used in biological warfare. It was sarin.

His heart had sunk. Danny had been poisoned by sarin and if they didn't get him onto the correct medicine soon he was going to die.

The ambulance ride was too slow, it took too long. No matter if it was a 30 second ride or a ten minute one, it was far too long with Danny's life hanging in the balance.

Running down the corridor after the gurney, the doctors finally got him to stop and let them do their jobs. He had to let Danny's pale and sweating body trundle off along the corridor without him.

He picked up Grace and took her to her father. Danny had lit up when Grace joined him, as he always did, and whatever weakness his body carried while lying upright in the hospital bed he wouldn't show her. Danno was always strong for his Grace. Steve had to be strong too. He put all his resources into finding out how the sarin got near his Danny, into his city, on his Island.

While entrusting the care and feeding of Danno to Grace, he set about making the Island safer for them, and by the end of the day, the whole thing had been solved. He made his way back to the hospital as the sun was setting and arrived at Danny's room to find him resting quite peacefully. He thought Danny was asleep until the ruffled head turned as if sensing Steve's presence.

"Hey," Danny's voice was rough form his ordeal.

"Hey yourself," Steve answered as he pushed away from the door frame and walked around Danny's bed to the chair on the other side. "Where's Grace?"

"Rachel took her home, she was falling asleep."

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Danny picked at the bed cover. "Rachel, she uh, she's taking Grace away for a while, to England. She's having some problems with Stan and wants to go running off home." Danny paused.

"You're okay with this? You seem very calm."

Danny grinned lopsidedly. "That might mostly be the drugs, but yeah. Grace is excited to get to see her grandparents. And who am I to stand in the way of my little girl's happiness? Besides, with everything going on around here, it'll be good to know that she's safe. I don't want her getting tangled up in any of this magic nonsense we have going on."

"We still haven't heard back from the Guild. There might not be any trouble."

"The longer it takes, the more worried I get. We haven't heard from them in a few weeks. By now they either have the answers and we're not allowed to know them, or they're just as stumped and any minute I'll be taken away and dissected."

"You're not going anywhere," Steve growled. "Your ass just came back from the brink of death. I'm not letting you out of my sight for at least the next three months."

"Three months, huh?" Danny smiled again, which was infectious and Steve caught the bug.

"Yeah. Then we can talk. Maybe you can have a bathroom break or something." Steve laughed and then leaned his head down to Danny's chest, their hands clutched together on the bed spread.

"What are you doing?" Danny asked.

"Reassuring myself," was Steve's answer. Listening to Danny's heartbeat was something he did in bed, curled in next to Danny. He loved to listen to it as it slowly calmed down after they'd had sex. Now he was doing it to make sure it was in working order after nearly stopping.

"You're a goof," Danny murmured, but allowed Steve to get comfortable. Even if they both knew he was going to wake up later with a crick in his neck.

* * *

Steve had spoken to Rachel on the phone. She was picking up Danny from the hospital when he was being discharged, and was under orders to take him back home so he could rest. Steve would have preferred to pick Danny up himself, but since Rachel was taking Grace to England for a month, this was Danny's last chance to spend an extra precious few minutes with his daughter before she left on a plane that evening. So it was a surprise when Danny slowly walked into HQ with a grin on his face.

Steve remained in his office, wondering for a moment if he was imagining it because Danny had assured him he was going to be going home. Instead there he was, in the bullpen, hugging Chin and Kono and smiling away at them.

Steve wandered out. "Sidebar," he said, motioning with his head for Danny to move aside with him. As he did he let loose louder than he meant. "What the hell are you doing here, Danny? You're supposed to be at home. Resting!"

"Okay, Commander Ratchet, can you stop a moment? I am here to see my friends, offer a few hugs of thanks, it's something we in polite society call manners."

"You were in the hospital until this morning for good reason. Yesterday you were poisoned. You almost died. I'm pretty sure no one would begrudge you a chance to lay on a couch and watch some TV for a while. Hugs can wait."

"Can they? Are you going to turn one down? The docs already told me this morning that it's only because of you that I'm alive. Something you managed not to mention at all yesterday. So you were going to get the best hug of them all. The others? Practice hugs. But since you're turning it down, I'll just go…"

"Hold on, who said I was turning it down?"

"You said hugs can wait."

"And they can. For other people."

"Other people?"

"I'm not other people."

"Is this because of how you and I have gotten very close…?"

"Did you just say we've gotten 'very close'?"

"Well, yeah."

"That's how you put it? That's what we are?"

"Would you just come here, babe?" Danny held his arms out enough for Steve to sweep into them and they hugged, Steve rocking Danny slightly but conscious of the fact that Danny shouldn't even be walking around right now. As it was he could tell by Danny's hold in the hug that he didn't fully have his strength back and was trying to cover for it by patting him on his shoulders.

"McGarrett!"

Steve and Danny whirled out of their hug at the sound of the voice. Steve wrinkled his nose as Sang Min came in a few more steps, the scent of the vampire assaulting his nose. Steve and Danny stood side by side, guns raised, while Chin and Kono flanked them. With all of them pointing weapons at Sang Min, there was nowhere for the vampire to go.

"Danny, go to my office," Steve commanded.

"What?"

"Danny. NOW!" Steve practically yelled. He couldn't see over his shoulder but he could sense the tension rising between them - Danny not understanding why Steve wanted him away and into the relative safety of the other room.

"Yes, sir," Danny mumbled before lowering his weapon and moving backwards. Although Steve couldn't see, he could tell by the footsteps that Danny had gone into the office but no further and was likely standing from the doorway watching. Probably with his gun raised again, because he'd yet to hear Danny put it back in its holster.

The entire team was surprised when Sang Min sunk to his knees and allowed Chin to easily search and cuff him. "You don't understand, I'll cop to any charge, take the maximum sentence. Victor Hesse, he's coming for me, he wants me dead."

"Why?"

"I know too much of his operation, and I've talked to you before. He's changing things up, got a new partner. I'm a loose end."

"Isn't that a shame."

"It should be. 'Cause once I'm gone, he's coming after you and your boy. Says he's got magic in him. Says he's got to die before you use him. If I were you McGarrett, I'd listen to me."

Steve almost didn't know what to say. If Hesse tried to kill Danny he wouldn't succeed. If it was the last thing Steve did, he'd protect Danny from that monster.

"Chin," he said as he regained his voice, "take our guest to interrogation. Make him feel welcome."

Steve finally lowered his gun, holstered it and turned to face his office. Sure enough, Danny was standing there, taking up almost the entire entrance, still pointing his weapon, but at Steve rather than Sang Min.

Steve gave Danny a look. It was obvious Danny was just trying to make a point and once made, he lowered his gun. As Steve made his way over he stood his ground and folded his arms.

"Care to explain yourself?" Danny asked, far too calm.

"Care to sit down?" Steve gestured towards the couch further inside the small room.

Danny backed down and turned to go sit. He might not admit it, out loud or to himself, but Danny clearly needed the seat. The adrenaline rush of pulling his gun on a target had worn him out. He definitely didn't have enough of his strength back yet.

Once Danny was seated, he used the arm rest for his elbow and ran a hand over his brow, eyes dipped in what looked like frustration and tiredness. Steve took pity on him as he walked over. Sitting beside him, he reached a hand out to lightly run up and down his thigh.

"You are on medical leave. I didn't want you involved in a confrontation. You're not up to strength."

"I can hold a gun, Steven."

"And now look at you, Danny. You're worn out. You would have been anyway and then you faced down a vampire that encroached on our space? I only meant to look out for you."

"I dunno," Danny sighed, looking like he was warring with himself. "Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between you being my partner, my boss, my friend… whatever other descriptives you want to chuck on out there that we are to one another…" He finally looked up at Steve. "Yell at me like I'm an insubordinate Ensign again, and I'll castrate you."

Steve swallowed. "Got it."

"Now take me home, Rambo. The pills the doctor gave me are making me woozy."

"Right," Steve could have argued that the pills weren't the only cause of the wooziness but he was not getting into an argument with Danny right now. The priority was getting the man home and into bed.

After a quiet car ride, augmented only by Steve's worried glances to his partner as he leaned against the window with closed eyes, he gently roused him and helped him into the house. The longer Danny was on his feet, the more unsteady he became. He kept a hand on Danny's back as they climbed the stairs. He helped him take his clothing off and stowed his gun and badge while Danny was in the bathroom.

Once out, Steve decided to strip down as well and join Danny in the bed. He didn't have to go back to the office - Chin was taking care of things with Sang Min, so he had elected to take the rest of the day to give Danny what he needed.

As Danny rested comfortably against the pillow wearing nothing but his underwear under the covers, a now naked Steve slipped carefully into the bed and gathered Danny into his arms.

"Danny?" he asked quietly, letting the slow mood remain, checking Danny was still with him.

"Hmm?" Danny hummed in question.

"I want you to feel good again, let me…" He trailed slow kisses over Danny's temple and down the side of his face before nuzzling behind his ear. All the while, his hands ghosted over Danny's sides and hips, legs bracketing the other man in a solid embrace.

"Hmm," came the response again. He knew Danny was still there with him, worn out but still aware enough of Steve and what he was doing. He could tell Danny enjoyed the attention - goosebumps appearing on his skin as Steve ran his nails through Danny's chest hair.

He wanted this moment to be about Danny, about Danny feeling good, about Danny relaxing and letting Steve take care of him. Steve's enjoyment would come only out of Danny's soft reactions to his hands, his tongue, his breath. Knowing what he could do to Danny was the greatest turn on he'd ever had.

It was slow, sensual, his hand dipped below the waistband of Danny's briefs, teasing, while the other held Danny tightly to him, his back to Steve's chest, Danny's head on his shoulder. As Danny rocked against him, into him, away from him, Steve followed every movement with eyes wide open, letting the experience wash over him. They moved together as one, Danny's breath hitching. Seeing Danny like this was unlike any time before. Danny had never been so quiet in bed and yet Steve knew every nuance of Danny's reactions as ones he'd seen before and loved to see over and over again. The quiet that surrounded them became a physical cover that neither could break.

Danny came with Steve's hand wrapped around him. Taking the hand out of Danny's underwear, he then moved it to himself. Unmindful of the stickiness, he used the same movements he had on Danny to bring himself off.

Danny barely moved after, slowly drifting to sleep, trusting Steve to take care of everything. Steve just lay there, still faintly running deft fingers over Danny's body, enjoying nothing more than the warmth of the body next to him, lazily circling the tips of his fingers over Danny's upper chest and heart, marveling at the shine that emanated from him.

One thing he'd never mentioned out loud was how Danny glowed after they'd been together. The color seemed to shift, the intensity both brightened and mellowed at the same time, and when Steve let himself be surrounded by it, everything seemed right, like it was how things were supposed to be.

Whatever happened with the Guild, this was one thing he didn't need explained because he already KNEW exactly what it was. It was right.

* * *

Steve stirred when Danny shifted on the bed. It wasn't until he heard the sounds from the bathroom that he woke properly. Covers pooled low on his hips, he sat up, getting his knees under himself and waited for Danny to return. He wanted to get a good look at the man purely because he wanted to see how he was after their few hours rest. He was not using that as a shameless excuse to take in the glorious sight of a newly naked Danny Williams in front of him.

As Danny came out, he was steadier on his feet than he had been when they'd come home, but he didn't have the swagger he usually had, and Steve cursed the wretched sarin that had coursed through Danny's veins the day before. Danny's weakness meant he wouldn't be feeding from him for a few more days, so his marking of Danny would need to be purely physical until then.

"What are you look at?" Danny asked as he stood at the bottom of the bed.

"You," Steve answered succinctly. "Come here." He held his hand out and Danny took hold as he climbed back into the bed. Steve pulled Danny into his arms, both men doing their best to settle around each other's legs as they sat, Danny half on top of Steve, their hands roving over sweat dried skin.

Faces close enough for breath to mingle, Danny's hooded eyes drew Steve in closer. He leaned up to place soft kisses on Danny's forehead, a hand tangling into Danny's hair. He reverently kissed Danny's skin, trailing his lips down over his nose and then gently nipping at Danny's mouth. As Danny responded, the kisses deepened but remained slow, easy and unhurried.

Steve pulled back to allow them to breathe. He lifted Danny higher in his arms so he could run his tongue down over Danny's neck and onto his chest. He licked and sucked at Danny's skin, covering him as much as possible and enjoying the vibrations of Danny's moans against his lips. His stubble tickled against Danny's ribs as he moved lower, a hand trailing ahead of his mouth until he could curl himself down no more. His hands took over as they explored lower on Danny's body, his eyes following the movement, dazed.

"Danny," he voiced as he brought his head back up, fitting it comfortably in the crook of Danny's neck.

"Babe, please," Danny breathed as Steve's hand curled around him, "God, you're so good at this."

Danny's body arched into Steve's touch and he didn't want to break the spell. He carefully moved their position, letting their body's slip together in their aroused state, his own hardness pressed tightly underneath Danny's.

One of Danny's hands clutched at the side of Steve's face. Their cheeks touched, burning against each other and Danny turned into him, open mouthed kisses pressing against Steve's stubble, his tongue cooling it down.

Steve rocked up into Danny, a hand with grip firm at the base of his spine, dragged lower, pressing against Danny's entrance, fingers feeling his own hardness as he sought out more friction.

"Come on, Danny, let it go for me," Steve urged. "I want to feel you."

"Steve," Danny gasped, pushed over the edge, before collapsing against Steve as he pushed up once more against Danny and came over him. Stickiness in his own hand he pushed a finger against Danny's ass, sliding it in just a little until Danny hissed a groan out. He rubbed his hand off against Danny's skin making sure to leave the evidence of their lovemaking on him.

"I need a shower," Danny murmured against Steve's neck.

"No," Steve's hand trailed up and down Danny's spine. "Not for a bit, let it all linger."

"We stink."

"In a good way," Steve finished for him, smiling against Danny. "Just enjoy it."

They enjoyed it for the rest of the night. Steve got up to grab some food that they could easily share in the bed and he took care of Danny all night. Everything was lazy and he reveled in their closeness. Shared kisses and exploring hands as they lay in bed, it was a slow rediscovering of their bond.

* * *

Steve was glad they were at least dressed in something, even if just sweat pants, when the doorbell went off. They weren't expecting anyone, and their friends knew to text if they were coming over as it was best not to suddenly intrude on a vampire's living space.

He frowned as he put down his glass, and trailed a hand over Danny's shoulder as he passed him out of the kitchen and toward the front door.

Opening it, he was surprised to see Agent Kaye standing there, looking slightly nervous this time and only wearing jeans and a t-shirt rather than the sharp suit she had worn during their first meeting.

"Agent Kaye?"

"Please, I'm sorry to just come over here like this but we need to talk. It's important."

Steve stepped back from the door and waved her in as Danny joined them in the living room.

"Wow," Kaye remarked, "Neither of you are wearing clothes, I guess I interrupted something."

"It's okay," Danny said before Steve could respond, "Did something happen? You look worried, Agent Kaye."

"Please, call me Jenna and yes and no," she began. "I think I have some explaining to do because now I think it's my fault that you guys are in trouble."

"In trouble? What's going on?" Danny ushered Kaye into the kitchen and Steve followed, all of them taking a seat at the table.

"I'm an analyst for the CIA. I do research, it's my thing, I look for patterns or hidden information, that's what I do, it's why they pay me the big bucks, so to speak. I'm not a field agent, I'm not used to… people." Her whole demeanor seemed different to when they first met, Steve recognized now that it had been an act, but he didn't understand yet why.

"Start at the beginning," he urged her.

"Hesse, he's the beginning. You know he's been tracked by a lot of Government agencies."

Steve nodded, "FBI, CIA, ATF... I've done a lot of joint Ops over the years with various lettered agencies. Pretty much all of them want in on trying to stop him, but we've never been able to get him."

"Wonder what he did to piss of the Department of Weights and Measures, then?" Danny interjected.

"You're being facetious," Steve scowled.

"I'm being funny, move the story on to the present day, please?"

"I've been following Hesse's movements for the last year or so, almost exclusively," Jenna continued. "When you followed him to Hawai'i, we thought you had him cornered. Then he disappeared again. There was no one, no chatter, nothing I could find that said where he was and you stayed here, on Hawai'i, and no one else paid attention to that either because how could you follow him if no one knew where he was?" She took a breath finally and ran a hand through her hair. "And then a few months ago, Hesse came back and it turned out he was here the whole time. I had to know how you knew where he was, that he hadn't left the Islands. If there's no chatter, how did you pick him up? So I was looking more closely at you, your team. No one else had even noticed if there was any connection to you."

"It was a coincidence, we didn't know. And you seem awfully invested in finding Hesse," Danny remarked.

Jenna took a moment, composing herself. Steve could hear her speeding heartbeat, caused by her nerves. "Hesse, he took my fiancé. I'm sure he's still alive, but I need Hesse to tell me where he is."

"Great, how many people have personal vendetta's against this creep?" Danny asked pointedly at Steve as he leaned back in his chair.

"He's old, there's probably been a hell of a lot of us over the years."

"Guys, I'm sorry. When I met you and I found out you have magic," she gestured at Danny, "I thought this was how you'd been doing it. That you'd used magic to keep tabs on Hesse, that you'd been lying to me somehow when we met and Detective Williams, I knew there was more to you. You radiate too much light to be a beginner. I've been looking into both of your backgrounds and I…. I got those files from Toast and tried to research further into what was going on. The thing is," she hedged, "I'm not supposed to be looking into you. I took a leave of absence and I don't think the CIA is too fond of the whole 'personal vendetta' thing and I may have done some hacking of my own and… raised a flag. Or two."

"What kind of flag?" Steve asked, sitting forward, worried.

"There was no case, until I started looking. The Guild had no idea, but now they do. And they aren't the only ones. From what I've found, Homeland Security is taking an interest as well as my bosses at the CIA. I think I found out more about those old files. It was a special project. Look at the date on it." She pulled a piece of folded up paper out of her pocket and pushed it in front of Danny.

"That's the day before I was born," Danny said.

Jenna nodded. "The report indicated that whatever they were doing went on through the night."

"Which would be onto my actual birthday," Danny finished for her. "You think this special project is about me?"

"I think so. And if I'm right, they're going to want to get their project back."


	3. Chapter 3

There was an explosion.

Right outside of Iolani Palace. Right where they worked and Steve counted his blessings that no one was hurt but he was angry. Not just at the wanton destruction of property, but that someone dared to set off a bomb in a car right outside of his work.

Jenna had joined them over the last week - after that morning at Steve's house where she tried to explain to them what she'd been discovering and what she'd stirred up.

Even as she'd told them what she thought, it seemed unbelievable to Steve and Danny. Danny flat out refused to truly believe that he had magic in the first place and if an answer confused him, he shut down and decided that it wasn't real. For Steve, he'd been alive for so long, he knew practitioners over the years, and it was true that they were secretive, but he'd had no idea about the different levels of magic nor what they got up to behind closed doors. Jenna had been surprisingly forthcoming, giving away secrets of the Guild with frank honesty and yet, like Danny, he struggled to believe them.

She'd called herself a Guardian. She was someone who was supposed to protect magic, whether that be protecting the Guild, individual practitioners, or simply doing what was right to stop the world going to war again. She said that practitioners who worked in Government agencies were all Guardians, working in different roles for the same goal: security.

It made sense to think Danny might fall into that category.

But then Jenna took 'sense' out of the equation.

What Danny had in the way of magic was late in surfacing. It had been hidden inside him like a ticking time bomb and something had set it off. That was something Jenna had yet to be able to pinpoint but she insisted that the research she had done that led to this project meant that what Danny had wasn't organic: it didn't come from some family line or from a natural, earthy origin. All she could find was that the magic was made. That this was a magic willed into existence by sheer force and as such, must have a purpose. It took powerful magic to create it, so according to her, wherever Danny's magic came from, it was powerful.

Danny hadn't liked it. Hadn't liked the idea of standing out from the crowd as unique, nor to having some notion of being created for some sort of purpose, refusing to believe in some form of fate or destiny. It was 'new age crap' and he refused to subscribe.

He'd shut down on the magic front from then, but he was perfectly happy to continue their mission on stopping Hesse, and so they'd decided to invite Jenna to work from the 5-0 offices.

While Steve quietly worried about what would happen when an Agent from the Guild inevitably arrived, the loud explosion outside had rocked his office and as they raced out to see the damage it became clear that whatever problems they had with magic had to be put aside.

They had their suspicions from the start with both Steve and Jenna convinced that this was the work of Victor Hesse.

"But why blow up a car? A warning, a preemptive strike? All it does is draw our attention to him." Danny argued.

"True, but he already knows we have Sang Min, he knows we're after him so that doesn't make a difference. What he's saying now is that he's not waiting for us to go to him. He's coming to us."

* * *

Kaye was able to identify fragments of the Claymore used in the bombing to a shipment originally intended for Iraq four years before that had been stolen from the military. She'd given them the name of the guy suspected of being involved and Steve and Danny had jumped in the car and headed to the address in Pearl City of a military surplus store.

"Well, hope you like it, 'cause this is what it's going to look like when you die. This is your heaven," Danny waved his hands indicating everything around them as they entered the building. "You want anything while you're here? A new ammo belt… night vision goggles… ooh, powdered eggs…"

"I tell you something, I'd take powdered eggs over your eggs any day," Steve answered.

"My eggs? You love my eggs!" Danny was almost incredulous considering he made his eggs often for breakfast at the weekends and Steve never complained before.

"I love you, not your eggs. They're terrible, Danny."

"You know, what would you know? You're a vampire, you drink blood, your taste buds are probably shot to hell," he said back as they turned the corner and recognized the man they were there to see.

Predictably he ran off and just as predictably, Steve shot after him. Danny let him to do the hard part and instead circled round to where Steve had cut him off.

As he came up from behind he heard Steve's threat, "I will shoot you in the face, put it down!"

Danny rolled his eyes at Steve's brusque response and instead he distracted the guy long enough to pepper spray him. He went down, wiping at his eyes in pain. Danny shot Steve a look. "Shoot him in the face?"

"Well I would have," Steve shrugged.

"Dial it down, babe. Hey," Danny sunk to his knees beside the scumbag. "Who'd you sell the claymore to?"

"Answer his question," Steve said as O'Reilly didn't speak. "Who'd you sell the claymore to?"

"McGarrett!" The man shouted. "His name's Steve McGarrett!"

* * *

Danny took his time in interrogation, he was breaking the guy down bit by bit, it's how he preferred to do things and while Steve was trying to work another angle, Danny did it his way. He was worried though, and even this time 'his way', the sane way, wasn't working as it usually would because this was hitting too close to home if Steve's name was being thrown around by criminals. This was not how he'd seen the day going.

Steve may be seen as possessive, they were both well aware of this after a year. Not just at home by themselves, but Steve had a way of holding himself, of standing or saying something that blatantly showed how possessive he was and not just about Danny but about the team and his home. It was more distinct with Danny but it was a part of Steve no matter what.

Now that Steve had been mentioned, as much as the accusation was unbelievable, it struck a chord with the protective and yes, possessive streak in Danny too. What this meant was that because a criminal had run away at the mouth, they had to clear Steve of any wrongdoing while they were at it, which slowed things down. He'd never thought he'd have to put Steve into an investigation, not like this.

Steve's interrogation techniques worked, O'Reilly gave up what he had and they knew for sure now that it was Hesse they were dealing with, but what he was up to was another matter altogether. Having O'Reilly use McGarrett's name seemed like yet another message that Hesse was bringing the fight to them and he had Steve in his sights.

When they got back to the bullpen Jenna was already there. If anything was obvious to Danny it was that Hesse had them running around in circles which was distracting them from finding where Hesse himself actually was. He was saying as much when the doors opened and Kono and Chin came back in to join them and they agreed.

"As much as Hesse is clearly stirring up trouble with us, maybe the answer lies more in why he's after Danny," Chin asked. He had always been interested in the magic Danny held and how Steve could see it. "Maybe putting that on the back burner is the wrong idea."

"I'd much rather concentrate on the real police work, if no one minds," Danny said.

"Maybe the Guild can help, maybe we should be asking them about this," Kono suggested.

Steve shook his head. "Jenna already warned us that they'd want to get to the bottom of Danny's magic if it turns out he's as strong as she suspects. That might not be so bad sometimes but he's got Grace to think about."

"And you," Danny interjected and Steve gave a small smile. As much as Steve believed Danny to be his, sometimes he was strangely shy about assuming he was so important to Danny in return.

"But while Grace is away anyway?" Kono asked.

"Vampires don't do well when people encroach on our territory, and that's just where we live," Chin answered. "You've never seen me stupidly in love but I can tell you one thing, when you love a person that much, you'll do a hell of a lot not to be separated. I've seen a few vamps in my time suffer for it."

Danny smiled tightly, "And not that it's a veiled warning to me that I can't shake this guy easily."

Steve knocked his arm against Danny's rather than vocalizing his unhappiness at Danny's flippancy.

"Brah, I've never seen a vamp as attached as Steve is to you. Not to mention that we haven't explained how he can see your magic. I just get a feeling it's not something we should be ignoring, especially after Sang Min told us that Hesse is after you and he knows you're magic."

"Regardless of what magic Danny has, there's no way he can learn enough right now to protect himself from Hesse. We concentrate on finding the bastard and putting him down before he follows through on any threats."

* * *

The Governor called them to her residence later that day. Steve and Danny hadn't expected any problems and had tried to beg off from visiting but she had insisted on being updated properly on the situation with Hesse.

"Gentlemen, I want Victor Hesse off my Islands, please tell me you have something."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"How close are you to finding him?"

Steve leaned forward in his seat. "We know it was Hesse who set the bomb this morning."

Danny took over, "We have a guy in custody right now who sold him the explosives. He made a positive ID."

"As soon as he sits with an attorney he's going to give us a full statement as well as what he knows about Hesse's possible whereabouts in exchange for leniency. HPD is taking him to jail right now."

"We believe Hesse wants rid of us, the bomb was probably a warning." Danny didn't like the look in Jameson's eyes as she turned to him. "Now we think we have a way of getting ahead of him."

"Very good work, Gentlemen." She shuffled some papers in her hand before continuing, keeping a steady eye on Danny the whole time. "I am aware that you've had a CIA analyst helping you lately. I've had their top brass calling me already, wondering why a person on leave is working for my task force. The Assistant Director gave me quite an earful about withholding information."

"She's an expert on Victor Hesse. Any help she can give while visiting the Island on vacation is of great help to us," Steve said carefully, his excuse skirting around Jenna's other reason for being there.

"She's Guild, Commander. I don't have to tell you what they're like. Whatever magic you're playing with I advise you to be very careful. I'll do what I can to smooth things over with them but if they do get more involved, it could distract you from your mission to stop Hesse."

"Nothing can distract me from that, ma'am. It's my top priority." The look Danny caught in Steve's eyes was dark as he spoke with her. He knew he was missing something, that Steve had noticed something wrong.

"See that it is." The Governor looked between them, her eyes lingering on Danny.

As they left the office, Danny caught Steve's wrist. "What's with you?"

Steve held up his other hand as they exited through the front door and stopped, looking back behind himself and watching the security detail put in the alarm code. He then turned back to Danny as they started walking.

"She's lying to us. There's something she's not telling us."

"About what? What could the Governor know that we don't?"

"I'm not sure, but her heartbeat jumped, she was nervous about my reactions, and she paid far too much attention to you. I don't know if it's because she knows about you or if it's to do with Hesse or both. But I need to find out."

Danny's eyes drifted back in to the alarm and he put two and two together. "Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

* * *

They were still arguing when they got back to the office.

"You're getting so uptight, would you relax a bit, I've had years of training."

"There is security all over that that place, always!"

"She's having a press conference in a few hours, I'll make my move then, it'll be fine."

They wandered into the bull pen, joined by the rest of the team and Danny took the opportunity to point out to everyone how stupid he thought Steve was being, and how reckless. "Let me just make a statement, okay? Out of the top ten dopiest suggestions you've ever had, this is number one, with a bullet."

"What idea is that?" Chin asked.

"Oh, I'll tell you, he wants to break into the Governor's mansion."

"What?" Kono exclaimed.

"All those who think it's a certifiably demented idea, please raise your hand," Chin and Kono confusedly raised theirs but Jenna kept looking around them unsure what to do. Danny pointed over to her. "Please raise your hand."

"I'm new, I didn't think I got a vote," she answered.

"You don't get a vote." Steve turned to her and then back to Danny. "And the rest of you are forgetting that Five-0 is not a democracy, it's a benevolent dictatorship and I have my priorities. Got it?"

Danny shook his head as Chin asked the obvious question, "Why would you want to break into the Governor's mansion?"

"Because she's lying to us. I picked up on it, you would have too if you'd been there and I need to know why. If it's got anything to do with Danny I need to know so I can protect him and if it's to do with Hesse, maybe it can lead us to him."

Kono looked puzzled still. "But what do you think you're going to find?"

"I don't know, but I have to look. There might be files, maybe something locked away. I have to try." At that moment, Steve's phone went off in his pocket. "McGarrett…. wait, wait wait, what? When?"

In the next moment they were running out of the offices on Steve's heels. With the transport carrying O'Reilly to jail getting hit, there went their lead on Victor Hesse and the information on where he was likely hiding out.

* * *

As they pulled up at the scene, Danny could tell Steve was on emotion lock down. He'd only seen him like this a few times and usually only when Danny was threatened. They approached the car, covered in blood and bullet holes as it was. Danny leaned forward, getting a glimpse of O'Reilly's drained body before Steve pulled him back and out of the way.

Danny turned and walked a few steps to the side. "Two good cops, dead."

He knew Steve cared about their deaths but that's not what concerned the vampire at that moment. He was looking at O'Reilly's dead body with purpose. "The only witness we had that could lead us to Hesse, how did he know? Huh? How did he know? How did this happen?"

Danny could tell Steve's control was slipping and he grabbed him by the arm and led him away from the scene.

"Come here," he dragged him further, grabbing into his shirt to pull him along. "Relax, come here, stop. Talk to me for a second."

"This had to be a leak, Danny."

"Okay, but it's not HPD. They knew O'Reilly was our witness but they didn't know he was meeting an attorney about what he knew about Hesse's plans. Who knew except us?"

"The Governor," it dawned on Steve. "Outside of Five-0 the Governor was the only person who knew we had O'Reilly and were on the trail of Hesse again."

"The Governor? Do you hear yourself?"

"Think about it, Danny. Right at the beginning she set up Five-0 with me when Hesse was first on the Island, which means she sees every report and knows every step we take toward him. A few months ago, how did Hesse know that the one person to threaten to hold me back, is you. And today in her office? The way she looked at you? It's like she was trying to see the magic, Danny. She knows what Hesse is after. The Governor is in his pocket!"

"Just stop for a second and think about this, we're talking about the Governor, just the top elected official in the State."

"I don't care. If she did this, if she's involved, if she's in on Hesse's threats to us, then she's going down."

"Okay, but do you realize that this is an accusation of monster proportions?"

"That's right. We need evidence, we need rock solid proof."

Danny could almost breathe a sigh of relief to hear Steve want to go about this lawfully, properly and not in some vigilante style. "That's good, now you're making sense. We can't be all bull in a china shop, we've got to use our heads."

Danny's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID. "That's Rachel, or it's Grace on her phone, I've got to take this."

* * *

Danny had asked Grace if he could call her back in a while once they had wrapped up the majority of their day. Once they reached home, Danny went out to the lanai to talk with her while Steve, keeping a careful eye on where Danny was, ran upstairs to change into darker clothing. He was quiet on his way down as he snagged the keys for the truck and then took off before Danny had realized he was going. If Danny knew he would try to stop him, and Steve knew that he couldn't let this go. If the Governor was in on something, if she was corrupt and if that threatened Danny, Steve, or just the team then he had to do this.

He watched from a distance as her cavalcade left on their way to whatever speech she was giving for the press, and he made his move. Remembering the number for the alarm code, he was relieved they hadn't changed it yet. He knew where he wanted to go - if there was anything it would be locked in her office.

He took a look over her desk but there was nothing there that stood out. He opened a few drawers and fumbled through documents. At the bottom of the lowest drawer he saw the old key. Picking it out, he looked around the room and his eyes fell on the old writing desk that looked like it was from the 1800s. The brass key seemed like it must fit the drawer on it. Moving over he knelt in front and slowly, quietly, turned the key. As it unlocked it he pulled it open and rifled through.

That was when he found a regular envelope with no markings. Shaking out what it held, he was shocked to see pictures of Danny. Some with Steve, some with Grace. Danny had been followed, how had he not realized that they'd followed him? By the looks, the person was careful and in none of the pictures could he remember being with Danny at those points in time, either dropping Grace off at school or doing grocery shopping. The person who had followed him knew enough of their routine to know that these were times Danny might be alone for an hour or so, and Steve's vampire senses wouldn't be able to pick up on any familiarity encroaching too close to them.

He balled up his fist and brought it to his mouth, practically stuffing it in so as not to scream in rage. He closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself before looking around. He decided this was enough. He had the evidence that proved that there was something very wrong with the Governor. She'd have no reason to have Danny followed unless it was on Hesse's behalf - only Hesse had such a grudge that he'd want to know Danny's movements.

Victor had already threatened Danny's life once, now Sang Min had warned him that he wanted Danny out of the way before his magic grew enough to be a threat to him. And he wanted Steve punished and suffering. Hesse knew there was no greater suffering for Steve than losing Danny.

* * *

Steve arrived home with his anger still so great that he forgot he'd left to do something Danny had warned him against. Striding into their home he was almost surprised to have Danny come tearing out of the kitchen.

"Where the hell have you been? Wait, what are you wearing, why are you dressed like a ninja?"

Steve strode away from Danny, trying to compose himself but Danny turned with him.

"What is this? No, no, no, don't answer. Tell me you didn't break into the Governor's house."

They looked at each other for a drawn out moment before Steve could speak, realizing there was no point in denying anything. What was done, was done. "I found these," he pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the pictures he'd taken of the photos.

"This is me," Danny said, shocked. "Why would the Governor have pictures of me?"

"She had someone tailing you, Danny, someone good if you didn't even know about it." Steve watched as Danny sat on the edge of the couch and hung his head in his hands. "Victor Hesse is the only person I know who'd want to know our, YOUR movements. The Governor is helping him. I don't know why yet, but until I do, you are not leaving my sight, do you understand me?"

"Steve-"

"No, Danny, listen to me. I'm not in most of these pictures which means Hesse is looking for a good way to grab you when you're alone. He can't do it in front of a crowded school or supermarket but he's trying to work out how, okay? We won't give him that opportunity."

Danny shook his head but had clearly decided that Steve wouldn't be moved on the issue. "Okay, fine, but I still don't see what the Governor gets out of this."

"Does it matter?" Steve almost shouted. "Money, power, hell, maybe he blackmailed her, I don't know and frankly, I don't care. All I'm focussed on right now is making sure Hesse doesn't get near you again." Steve grabbed Danny by the shoulder and pulled him in tight. The darkness of the room surrounded them, lit only by a small lamp in the corner. Steve's fears washed over him as he held Danny, the feel of their bodies pressed tightly together so familiar. "I won't lose you."

* * *

Everyone was gathered in the bullpen discussing the photos. Danny pointing out the legality of Steve's obtaining them, Chin pointing out her spotless record and approval rating. There was very little they could do at this moment in time to bring her down and hope that Hesse could be brought out into the open at the same time.

When Chin's phone rang, Steve could pick out Duke's voice, tinny as it was through the speaker. "Steve, there's a warrant out for your arrest, HPD are on the way here right now."

"What, why?"

"There was security camera footage of a masked man in black entering the Governor's house last night. Apparently in a blind spot there was a guard killed and your prints were found on him. They want you for murder and B&E."

"Steve?" Danny asked, not believing it but worried about what might have happened anyway.

"I didn't do anything, there were no guards there when I went in. I wasn't even wearing a mask. Someone else must have… Hesse, he's framing me." There was a faint sound of sirens in the distance. "Wipe the drives, get everything off, we can't let them know how close we are."

"Steve, you have to go, you can't get taken in," Danny grabbed Steve's arm.

"I'm not leaving you," Steve argued.

"I'm not wanted for anything. I can still do some actual work here. You need to get into hiding."

Steve's face turned dark, angry, he had the look of an animal boxed into a corner. He shook his head. "No, this is Hesse manufacturing a way to get you alone. What better way than if I'm in prison. I won't leave you alone."

"I've got the team, okay? We're all here, we'll work on solving this but you have to go." Danny was getting insistent.

Steve looked around them, Jenna and Kono franticly deleting files, Chin shredding what little they had in print outs. "Chin," he called over. "You need to get Danny to a safe house, don't let him out alone, he needs to be hidden from Hesse."

"What are you going to do?" Chin asked.

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this, do what you can but don't compromise yourselves." Steve turned back to Danny who mouthed 'go' to him but before he did he pulled him into an embrace, he kissed Danny hard. When he released him he looked into his eyes, "Please, do as I ask, don't argue with me on this."

He waited until Danny nodded and then he was off like a shot, running out of the offices and avoiding the officers streaming in, hoping the team could diffuse the situation as best they could.

* * *

As much as Steve was worried, as much as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him in a way he was supposed to have under control, he had no choice but to go dark. He had no idea where Chin had taken Danny, he had no idea if Danny was truly safe, he just had to trust his team member to be there for him.

It pained him to put Danny's care into the hands of another vampire, even if that vampire was a friend. It drove him in his need to get this finished.

He hung back outside the Governor's mansion, watching the guard rotation. It wasn't until darkness was fully upon them that he made his move, and despite the higher security, he had no plans to hurt the guards on patrol - he was already in enough trouble even if it was a frame job.

Taking down two, then a third guard as quietly as possible, he drew his weapon and made his way into the Governor's study. She looked tired, haggard as he stood with his weapon trained on her.

"Steve," she said quietly. "I was hoping they were wrong about you."

"I didn't kill anyone, Hesse did and I think you know that already." She pulled back slightly from the desk but Steve stopped her. "If you move I will put a bullet in you. Keep your hands on the desk."

"Put the gun away and we can talk."

"It goes down when we're done."

"What do you want?"

"I want the truth."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Angered, Steve took a step forward and Jameson flinched at his voice. "I know you're involved! I know you called Hesse about our witness so he could take care of it, I know you're setting me up for last night and I know Hesse, and you, want Danny away from me, I know everything!"

"So why don't you go ahead and pull the trigger?"

"Because I want answers. I know Danny has magic, I know it's different, I think Hesse knows it too and he either wants it destroyed or for himself, huh? Tell me."

"You don't want to know Hesse's secrets, Steve, trust me. This goes beyond even you."

"Who is calling the shots here. Is it Hesse? Or is it you?"

"I gave you Five-0. I gave you the immunity and the means to do some good on these Islands. I gave you what you needed to go after criminals like Victor Hesse. I've protected you!"

"Stop lying to me! You created Five-0 so you could keep an eye on me. You keep your friends close but your enemies closer."

"I am not the enemy, Steve. I am always loyal to my friends, to those loyal to me."

"Is that why you're working with Hesse? Because he's loyal to you, given you what you wanted in return for your co-operation and loyalty?"

"Yes."

Steve's concentration on the Governor had been absolute. He had noticed that she didn't seem as scared of him as she had when he'd arrived in the room but it registered too late and a moment later he felt the telltale zing of electricity on his exploded neck as he was tasered from behind. As he went down, before he passed out, he saw Victor Hesse come around his body.

"I need to find a new place to live," he said. "Cops are going to be crawling over your mansion any minute."

In the back of Steve's mind he realized that all this time, when he couldn't find Victor Hesse anywhere, he'd been holding up at the most secure location on Oahu.

"You need to get rid of him," the Governor exclaimed, nervously. "He'll work more of it out, dig into his family history."

"I've got everything under control. I want him suffering but I think I need him alive to draw the bitch out of hiding. Doesn't mean he has to enjoy his life."

With that, Hesse lifted the gun in his hand, pointing it at the Governor and let loose with two shots directly into her chest. After that, Steve could no longer hold on and succumbed to his body's need to pass out.

It was only for a few minutes, it couldn't have been more. The sirens were outside now.

He pushed to his feet, the effects of the taser still haunting his body but unlike a human, he'd recover from it faster. He didn't have time, as HPD stormed the room, Duke leading them, but Chin was amongst the group. He must have been keeping tabs with the operation. He may have retired from HPD once before but with Five-0 he had been reinstated at his old level and as such could easily slip back in with them.

"Steve, drop the gun, now!" Steve looked down at his hand, only now realizing that Hesse had left him to take the blame for the Governor's murder too.

"Duke?"

"She's dead."

Chin gave Steve a look, one that he could only interpret as worry, fear and disappointment. "It wasn't me, it was Victor Hesse," Steve's voice was strained from what had happened.

"We checked the house, nobody's here," Chin said.

"Is Danny safe? Tell me you got him away." Steve's hands strained in the cuffs Chin was putting on him.

"Steve McGarrett, you're under arrest."

Chin led him away.

"Please, Chin, he's got to be safe, this is what Hesse wanted, he needs me out of the way but where he knows I am."

"We were on our way when the call came in, Steve. HPD wouldn't let him get involved, he's outside."

"Promise me, Chin, promise me you'll keep him safe."

"I promise. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will be used against you in a court of law…"

* * *

Danny pounded his fists against the Camaro where it was parked near the mansion. HPD had insisted that as Steve was his partner in more than one sense of the word, he was too close to be involved in the operation. The anonymous call they'd received that Steve had broken in again had drawn what felt like every on duty cop in Honolulu to the scene and there was no way he could fight himself through and into the mansion to see what was going on.

Right now he was simply praying that Steve was still alive in there.

His eyes were drawn to the door as he noticed Chin leading Steve out in cuffs. His heart sank. He knew Steve was wanted on false charges, but the look on Chin's face seemed more worried than usual.

"Hey, hey, Chin! Hey," he called as he jogged over from where he was, hoping no one would be foolish enough to stop him.

"Danny!" Steve called out as he was marched over to a waiting cruiser.

"What's going on? What happened?"

Chin turned to him as he tried to get a reluctant Steve inside the car. "The Governor's dead."

"What?"

"It was Hesse, Danny, it was Hesse," Steve said as Chin struggled to still push him into the back of the car.

"He was the only one there, the gun was just discharged, I can't let him go."

"Yes you can, we're Five-0, we have jurisdiction, we have immunity."

"You don't understand, Danny. With the Governor dead and the head of the task force accused of the murder, there is no Five-0 anymore. Not until we can find a way out of this."

Steve pushed back out of the car as Chin hadn't closed the door, he moved closer to Danny. Chin tried to stop him, but the efforts seemed more for effect for the bystanders. "Danny, go. Get safe, I can't protect you from prison, let Chin deal with this, please."

"I can help, Steven, I'll be the one to get you out of this."

"Fine, help, but do it from safety. I love you, Danny," he pressed his forehead to Danny's as he couldn't move his arms around him. "After all these years I found a reason to keep living beyond revenge, please, please do this for me."

A tear escaped Steve's eye as Danny reluctantly nodded against him. Danny's hand came up to lightly caress the side of Steve's cheek and their lips met in an anxious kiss before Chin had no choice but to pull them apart again and shove Steve back into the car.

As he closed the door, Chin turned to Danny, "Get in the car and go to the address I gave you. Be careful, check for tails. I'll be there as soon as I drop Steve off at the precinct."

"I can't stand by like this, Chin."

"You have to. Right now, you have to." Chin turned and headed to get into the other side of the car. "Steve wants you safe, that's what I'm going to do."

With that, the cruiser left. Danny tried to keep his eyes on Steve's as long as he could through the darkness, Steve twisting in his seat to see Danny through the back window.

As the car drove off, Danny sunk to a crouch, running both his hands over his face and through his hair. He wiped at his eyes as the situation sunk in, how everything had gone so utterly wrong in the space of 48 hours.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a week. A week of routine, of being kept away from the other prisoners. It was for their safety, not his. There weren't many vampires in Halawa but those who were there knew better than to mess with one as old as Steve McGarrett. As for the humans in there, well, even in a group they didn't stand a chance against him in close quarters and even if they did manage to beat him, they couldn't kill him and no one wanted an angry vampire riding their ass.

So Steve was kept on his own, for safety and for the severity of the crimes he was accused of.

He didn't get many visitors, though that was by choice. He hadn't seen Danny the entire time he'd been in here and it was beginning to have an effect. He didn't feel so grounded despite hours of meditation and other techniques he used to calm himself. He had an emptiness inside that couldn't be filled without Danny's presence and, although he refused to give it any real thought, he occasionally felt… shaky. He could only think that maybe it was withdrawal. He hadn't tasted Danny's blood in that time, instead drinking whatever crap they served in the prison system. Danny's blood wasn't just fresh, warm and taste of home - there was magic in Danny and maybe it had affected him. But then, magic wasn't supposed to affect vampires.

Steve had sent Danny into hiding. He'd been in contact with Chin who had assured him Danny was safe and following Steve's orders. Five-0 may not exist right now, and Steve may not officially be anyone's boss, but they were all doing as he asked. Chin and Kono had kept Danny at a safe house that only the members of the team knew about. Danny was on just as complete a lockdown as Steve was. He didn't even have his phone in case it could be traced to him so he had a cheap burner to call Grace on. Kono had been put in charge of Danny's health and wellbeing, as well as making sure the man stayed put despite any protests. Chin was trying to work out how to prove Steve's innocence. Steve knew Danny wanted to help and was trying, but there was little he could do offline.

Steve was occupying himself with a workout when his door opened and he was told he had a visitor.

He sat on the cheap plastic seat and picked up the phone on his end, smiling at the person across from him. He had a feeling he knew what the other vampire was going to say.

"He says no, not without you. And he also says it's ridiculous that you won't let him visit because then at least you could have a conversation that wouldn't take 4 days."

Steve was right, and smiled smugly through the glass at Chin who laughed openly.

"I can't believe I'm the go between for one of your and Danny's insane arguments. I mean, really. Asking him if the bed is comfortable in the safe house? Especially when you knew what the answer would be? Oh, that reminds me, he also said you really had your priorities wrong if that's all you could think to ask."

"There are cameras in here, I'll bet the network is easily hacked so not only will I not discuss certain other issues in front of them, but I also don't want Hesse knowing Danny's on a nice day trip to visit me. He stays where he is, where he's safe from Hesse and.."

"… and nobody else can go sniffing around him? I know you, McGarrett, and I know what you're both like together. I know it's killing you being separated from him."

"If he came to visit me," Steve shook his head ruefully, "it would just set me off, even with this glass I'd be able to get a fix on him. Better to have the clean break until this is all cleared up. It's fine, hell week prepares you for anything."

Chin changed the subject. "The Lt. Governor wants to step up the trial."

"He wants to show the public he's a zero tolerance guy so convicting me of Jameson's murder is his first order of business."

"We're going to make sure that doesn't happen, Steve."

"I assume you came here for more than Danny's response and to keep me company. Is there word on Victor Hesse?"

"No," Chin looked around a moment. His eyes glanced at the camera but he came to a decision, though his phrasing was careful. "I got a visit yesterday at the precinct. Related more to Jenna's line of work but he's higher up. Way higher up."

Steve interpreted Chin's words easily enough. Whoever it was that arrived was Guild, possibly one of Jenna's bosses at the CIA and that meant he was there for Danny. They'd been worrying about this visit for weeks and he chooses to turn up now? The timing couldn't be worse. No doubt they wanted access to Danny and probably to take him away. There was little Steve could do from prison except hope to hell that Chin and Kono kept quiet.

"Don't tell him anything, Chin."

"I don't plan to, but you know they have their ways of finding things out."

"I know," Steve sighed. He knew they could likely use some form of location spell to find Danny. If Danny was a beacon to Steve, there was no doubt he would be to members of the Guild too, and depending on how high up this guy was, if he wasn't just a practitioner but an actual witch like Jenna expected might take interest? He'd definitely find a way to get to Danny.

* * *

After Chin left, Steve was given some time in the yard for fresh air. He looked up at the sky, at a burning bright sun that he had to use his hand to shield his eyes from. He'd become used to the Hawaiian sun after many years and though vampires didn't fear the sun, their eyes were sensitive to it more than a human's. After a week in prison, he wasn't so used to the brightness.

Because of it, it took him a few moments to adjust before seeing that the person coming at him from the darkness by the door was Sang Min, who somehow had a pair of sunglasses to protect him against the glare.

Despite the impairment, Steve had plenty of training and experience to fall back on and the hand to hand combat was something he had the upper hand in, but while Sang Min managed a moment of triumph over Steve, he was able to take a shiv from where it was hidden up his sleeve and strike Steve right in the heart.

Vampires wouldn't be affected for long by being stabbed. Anywhere else on his body and he'd be bouncing back from it in a few hours with no treatment necessary, but hitting him in the heart was more serious. It hurt like hell, it weakened him, and though it wouldn't kill him, it could send him into a coma from the trauma. His hands curled around where the shiv was sticking out of his chest, he could taste the blood in his mouth as Sang Min leaned over him and whispered in his ear. He couldn't concentrate on much - he was too busy hoping it wasn't deep enough to put him unconscious, leaving him vulnerable to beheading or burning - the only good ways to kill a vampire.

He could hear some of the words Sang Min said. They weren't instructions, and it wasn't snitching, but he knew that Sang Min had done this to give Steve a chance to get out of the prison. He should be taken to a hospital and if he's still conscious, he could escape. He could sort this out on the outside.

What Sang Min was doing made sense and though he hated being indebted to a criminal, he was oddly thankful for the injury. If nothing else, he'd be able to get to Danny before the man from the Guild did. Keeping Danny safe from Hesse was best done in person, or in simply making sure Hesse couldn't find him by keeping him hidden - it was his own version of witness protection. Keeping the Guild back couldn't be done from a distance. He needed to be by Danny's side.

Oh God. It hurt. He wanted to see Danny right now.

* * *

When Chin arrived at the safe house, groceries in hand, he walked in to discover Danny sitting at the kitchen table on a laptop.

"Brah, what the hell, where did you get that?" He walked over and pushed the laptop cover closed and yanked out the power cord.

Danny just watched Chin as he tried asserting himself but failed in his attempt at Steve's aneurism face. "Like that's going to make a difference," he gestured at where Chin was holding the power cable in his hand.

"Where did you get it?" Chin said again in a measured voice.

"Contacts. I have contacts, I know people, I had it delivered. You did, after all, leave me this lovely phone and I am not so old that I have forgotten how to make a phone call after looking through an old fashioned phonebook." He gestured at the yellow pages sitting on the counter top.

Chin's shoulders drooped as he let go of the cable. "You called Kamekona. Steve is going to kill me if he finds out."

"Then don't tell him."

"Danny, I'm doing my best here. I've got Steve being Steve, I'm leading an investigation on Victor Hesse despite the fact that the captain wants me to concentrate on convicting Steve for the murders and today I have the Guild coming at me looking for you. I do not have the patience nor the time to babysit you like you're a surly teenager!"

"Hey!" Danny stood and faced Chin head on, "Steve is not in charge of me, okay? Yes, I told him I'd do things his way but it's been a week, Chin, a WEEK, and things just keep looking worse. I can't sit around and do nothing, I can't let people wrap me up in cotton wool because of whatever the hell might be wrong with me. I'm a detective. I'm good at my job, and I'm trained in the use of weapons, hand to hand, pursuit driving…" he trailed off and took a breath, "I can take care of myself and I've had enough of Steve's coddling. I need out of this house."

"Fine, join in, by all means, but when Steve comes for my throat you better be there to calm him down."

Chin's phone rang and cut off the conversation. "Kelly… when?… I'm on my way." He hung up and looked at Danny. "Steve's been attacked."

* * *

Danny had convinced Chin to let him go with him to the prison. He'd been able to jump into the car before Chin had much choice and Chin just shook his head and floored it. Once at the prison, they headed straight to Sang Min's cell.

Danny had very little patience. After a week of being kept out of the investigation and away from Steve, he was at the end of his tether. He shoved Sang Min hard and he landed awkwardly back on his bed.

"You're a vampire, you know Steve can't be killed by just stabbing him so what was it, huh?" Danny asked. "Wanted to see him in pain? Or is Hesse waiting at the hospital to finish the job?"

"You got it all wrong, magic cop. I wasn't trying to hurt him, I was trying to help."

"Why would you do that?" Chin asked.

"Because, it gives him the best chance to escape. My chances of survival are higher if Hesse is concentrating on taking on Five-0. McGarrett in here and you on the outside walking the beat? My health could be in grave danger."

"Way to make it all about you, Sang Min," Danny strained a smile.

"Hey, with McGarrett out there and on the rampage, he might finally kill Hesse and I'm in the clear. And maybe the detective holding his leash will get my sentence reduced."

* * *

Steve came to in the back of the ambulance. He could feel his body already beginning to heal itself but it was painful in a way that other organs weren't. He'd only had this happen once before a long time ago and he'd forgotten how painful a hit to the heart was. As a vampire he needed his heart more than any other organ because he needed to keep blood pumping through him. With it injured, it was severely impaired and his strength wasn't as good as it should be.

He watched as the paramedics took care of him and remembered Sang Min's words of warning. This was his chance to escape and he wouldn't waste it. He pulled the oxygen mask from his face and muttered a quiet plea of Danny's name. It was enough to bring the paramedic closer and once he was, Steve grabbed hold of him and knocked him out. He rolled from the stretcher and grabbed at his chest, holding back the groan of pain, he pushed the back doors open and collapsed out into the street, narrowly avoiding the cars behind. Coming to his feet, he stumbled off, running as fast as he could away from the scene before the driver realized what had happened.

He avoided the sirens as best he could but running through back streets in an orange jumpsuit was still too conspicuous and his injury was still trailing blood down his chest. He needed to get away quickly before he passed out next from blood loss.

In a gas station toilet he did his best to stem the blood flow but was distracted by the appearance of HPD on the scene. Coincidental it may be, but he couldn't take the chance. He hid in the stall but it wasn't good enough and he was seen, but it meant he could get a change of clothes and transportation to get to Danny quicker, so he took the chance and launched himself at the cop.

He could feel himself becoming weaker as he drove away in the squad car. His eyes were drooping. He needed blood and he needed it quick. There was no way he'd make it out of town to the safe house in time. Checking the street signs to see where he was, he took a swift right and redirected himself to the closest place he knew of that might have things to help - Max's house.

* * *

He woke slowly, the world coming back together and Max's worried face looking down at him, saying his name.

"After patching me up, the least you can do is call me Steve." At Max's smile he continued, "sorry about breaking into your house, but I couldn't get anywhere else fast enough."

"No apology is necessary. In fact I feel quite humbled that you feel comfortable enough to come to me. I know vampires are very territorial and trust very few people."

Max began asking him more and he did his best to answer without scaring the medical examiner too much. He sat up and then there was a knock at the door. Steve turned to it and sniffed. He could smell vampire. He stood, but kept bent low, his teeth pushing through his gums, his eyes brightening. He could smell Danny. Danny was here with another vampire and he could smell that vampire on Danny.

There was a rage that went through him as Max opened the door and let the visitors in. He growled, deep and feral as Danny strode in.

"What the hell is the matter with you? What are you doing?" Danny turned to see where Steve was looking at Chin.

Chin's eyes widened and then he backtracked out of the door. "I'm outside, Steve. Don't worry."

Danny moved around the couch, closer to Steve, "Hey! Hey, caveman, why are you like this? Settle down, okay?" Danny reached up to Steve's face. After a year it didn't shock him to see Steve in his vampire state but he didn't normally see it like this, so angry.

"Chin was taking care of you."

"That's right, Chin's been helping me out this week, he's been trying to keep me sane at that house."

"I can smell him on you," Steve's voice was rough and shaky, from the injury and his primal rage that another vampire had been close to Danny. His logical mind knew why but he was still weak from the trauma of his escape and he hadn't seen Danny in a week - it had been difficult. He could no longer smell himself on Danny and that wasn't right.

"Oh, ho, wait a minute, here. Chin's done nothing, he is a perfect gentleman and you know that. We've been running around all day after your ass since you broke out so don't give me any crap right now. Pull it together."

Steve's eyes left the door where he was attempting to burn a hole in it to make sure Chin stayed away from him, from Danny. The tone in Danny's voice snapped him back. When Danny had that tone it meant he wasn't going to put up with anything from Steve and it was his signal to get himself calmed down. He looked directly into Danny's eyes. They were closer than he'd realized. Danny had pulled him in, hands on either side of his face. He was trying to make sure Steve was only paying attention to him, and like a switch going off in his head, suddenly that was all he could see. He took deep breaths, he let his teeth retract and concentrated on the smell of Danny so close to him. He trailed a hand onto Danny's chest, capturing the warmth and the light and then bundled Danny into his arms. He hugged him tightly and it stole the breath from Danny's lungs. Danny pushed and pulled until he was more comfortable, then one of Danny's hands tangled in the hair at the back of Steve's neck just where he liked to be touched and it brought him back to himself.

He opened eyes he hadn't realized were closed and saw Max standing carefully near the door, looking like he didn't know if he should leave or try to help out somehow.

"Buddy, you gotta let me go," Danny said, voice muffled in Steve's shoulder.

"No," he replied, not ready.

"Come on, babe, you're injured. You can't lean on me all day, you're too heavy for that." Danny was able to force himself back from Steve's hold and he turned to Max, but Steve kept one of his arms around Danny's waist from behind, the other steady on Danny's shoulder.

Danny called out to Chin to let him know he could come in, which he did, warily. "You sure?" Chin asked, head poking in the doorway.

"I told you I'd keep him in line, didn't I?" Danny smiled.

"Any sign of Hesse?" Steve asked, getting down to business. Chin was a vampire, he understood Steve's baser needs and wouldn't need him to start apologizing for it.

"No, right now we need to concentrate on you. HPD said you took a squad car, where is it?"

"I ditched it a couple of blocks to the south, behind a construction site."

"Okay, I'll get rid of it, take it to the North Shore, but I'll need help getting back again."

"I'll come with you," Max immediately volunteered, clearly wanting away from the situation he was in. "I can follow you in my car. I believe it is in our best interests to leave while Commander McGarrett and Detective Williams reconnect."

"Woah, we're not 'reconnecting' right now, we've got bigger things to worry about." At that, Steve ran a hand up and down Danny's arm and breathed on the back of his neck, which brought Danny's head around to watch. He pushed his groin forward against Danny and heard the gasp Danny couldn't hold back.

Chin smiled, "Sorry, brah. You want him calmed? You'd be best to help him out with what he needs."

"He needs a doctor," Danny argued, but Steve could feel him relaxing again in his arms. His dissension for show more than anything else.

"There is little else that can be provided for the Commander's medical needs. My only advice is that he requires rest. That is something he can have while we dispose of the police car. Oh!" Max exclaimed then ran into the back bathroom. He came out and placed a small bottle and a few condoms on the coffee table. "I believe you may need these. Please try not to stain the couch." He gave a small wave to them as he left the apartment, Chin following, closing the door behind them with a laugh, leaving Danny and Steve alone.

Steve took the opportunity to begin trailing kisses over Danny's shoulder. He pulled the shirt back, thankful that Danny wasn't wearing a tie today and hopeful he could dissuade him from wearing one again for a while. He knew Danny liked the added benefit of the tie covering the marks on his neck, but Steve much preferred them on show.

"Max said you need rest," Danny spoke, and Steve could feel the vibration of the sound as he lay gentle kisses onto Danny's throat.

"I'll get rest," he turned Danny in his arms, "once we're done." He kissed Danny, reclaiming his mouth just as he had begun reclaiming Danny's body. His hand fumbled with the buttons on Danny's shirt and then he pulled it out from the waistband of his trousers and down over his shoulders to fall on the floor. He then attacked Danny's pants, letting Danny shuck his shoes and pushed every piece of offending material away from Danny's body so he could see all of him. He was already topless himself so he only had to divest himself of the HPD uniform pants that were too big on him anyway.

He pushed Danny to lie down while he kicked off his underwear.

"Aren't you embarrassed that Max hunted out lube so you can fuck me on his couch?"

"He's a doctor," Steve shrugged as he lay on top of Danny, hands exploring and rediscovering the plains of Danny's chest and hips. "I'm sure he's seen it all before."

"Yeah, but we have to work with him, and Chin."

Steve lifted himself up on his arms, wincing only slightly with the strain as he manhandled Danny's body around, moving cushions to make things more comfortable for them.

"Shut up, Danny," he lay over the smaller man's back, mouthing open kisses on whatever patch of skin was beneath him. "Concentrate on me." He felt Danny's nod as he pushed a thigh between Danny's legs and then lost himself in Danny's body, on their connection, the feeling of everything coming back to an even keel in his head. That feeling of everything being right calmed him.

* * *

Danny lay curled on the couch with Steve behind him. If it wasn't for Steve's iron grip on him, he'd probably have fallen off by now. He could feel the warm body pressed tightly behind him, breathing evened out. Steve had fallen asleep shortly after they finished, too exhausted and worn out from his wound and the escape to keep with it.

Danny had managed to reach Steve's underwear and used it to wipe them down a little but was unable to reach around to Steve's groin where it was still pressed against him. Though one of Steve's arms was clamped around him, the other was on Danny's ass. He could feel Steve's fingers pressed against the sensitive skin from where Steve had just roughly reasserted himself as Danny's partner.

With a small moan, Steve rubbed his stubble against Danny's shoulder.

"Hey, babe," Danny said quietly. "We need to get dressed before the guys get back."

"In a minute," Steve mumbled.

"I don't know if we have a minute. They've been gone a while. And you and I are naked here."

Steve blindly fumbled behind himself and then pulled a blanket from the back of the couch down and over the middle of their bodies. "There," he said, with a smile against Danny's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's really helpful," Danny sighed.

"You're welcome."

"I'm serious, Steve. We've got more important things to do than lie on Max's couch."

Danny could feel Steve's eyelashes flutter against the back of his neck as Steve opened his eyes. With an annoyed groan, Steve stretched against him, pulling slightly on his wound, then pushed himself up to sit. Danny followed him up and then Steve pulled him back against him before he could stand.

"Steve, come on," Danny was expecting that Steve wanted to go for another round, or was just going Neanderthal on him for a moment. Usually a certain tone of voice stopped Steve but his arm tightened this time instead.

"Max gave me blood but…" Steve's voice trailed off and Danny felt the huff of his breath on his neck.

"Okay, just make it quick," Danny knew there was no point fighting Steve on this, and he knew it had been a while, so to complete Steve's need to mark him, he tilted his head to allow Steve more room. His teeth sank in and Danny automatically jerked forward at the pain but Steve held on tight. No matter how many times Steve bit him, he would never get used to that initial shock, but the feeling that came over him as Steve drank was one he never minded. He relaxed into Steve, gliding on the feelings it brought him and his hazy mind registered the sound of the door opening and closing but in this moment he didn't care who was around or what was happening.

As Steve's mouth left him it was another few moments before he was able to begin understanding the words being said around him. He opened his eyes to see Max sitting on the footstool in front of him. "… fascinating. Detective, I wonder if you would be interested in discussing the effects of the vampire toxin on you. I have read many articles on the subject but have never been privileged enough before to witness the intimate act of the bite. I have only ever seen the aftereffects."

"Whatever, Max," Danny turned his head into Steve's, his hand lifting to run the backs of his fingers along Steve's neck. "Did you just do that in front of them?"

Steve's eyes were dark now, proprietary. He grunted as he ran a hand over Danny's cheek then closed the distance and kissed him. A hand trailed low on Danny's back and lower causing him to yelp a little as Steve's finger pushed against him.

"Woah, hey." He broke the kiss and looked down, grabbing the blanket closer around both his and Steve's bodies. He could feel the smug satisfaction rolling off Steve in waves. Danny could only assume he looked wrecked, hair everywhere, body covered in marks and stinking of sex. Steve loved Danny like this, so there was no doubt the vampire would be happy with it, but Danny felt self conscious. Steve continued to nose at Danny's neck, tongue darting out to taste his sweaty skin.

"Naked. Okay, we're naked under the blanket and we need to get dressed so we can sort out the fact that Steve escaped from prison." Steve's hand was still on Danny's ass, his fingers still pushing against him, but there was nowhere for Danny to go right now and he didn't want to say anything in front of Chin or Max. He cleared his throat, hoping to pull the sound of it down a notch or two. "Can you pass over our clothes, please? Then maybe turn your backs or something? Steve, stop it!"

* * *

They were sitting on Max's couch. Steve had his arm flung around Danny, while Max sat gingerly beside them. Chin hovered over on the other side of the coffee table.

The evidence they had on Steve was circumstantial but it was still damning, and anything they could think of to use against it could easily be thrown out as it just wasn't a strong enough defense. What they needed was rock solid proof, the problem was finding it. Even the photos of Danny that Steve had found wouldn't work as anyone could have ordered they be taken.

There was a knock on the door and all their heads turned to it.

"Kono?" Danny asked quietly, but Steve and Chin both shook their heads.

"Not her smell," Chin said.

"I don't recognize it," Steve said, wary. He raised himself from the couch, pulling Danny with him and then making a point of standing between Danny and the door. "Danny, into the kitchen," he said, but Danny grabbed onto the sleeve of Steve's borrowed shirt.

"You too. Maybe they found you."

"If it was HPD they'd have announced themselves," Steve argued.

After a second knock there was the sound of a man's voice, muffled slightly by the wood of the door. "Detective Daniel Williams? I'm not here to hurt anyone, please open the door."

Max started towards the door until Chin stopped him.

"But it's my understanding that although someone says they don't want to hurt anyone, it seems that they will do so if they do not get what they want."

"What they want, Max, is Danny," Steve said, locating the gun he took from the HPD officer and raising it. "They're not getting him. Danny, get to cover, now."

"Didn't we talk about this before? With the orders? I'm not a damsel in distress, I can fight my own battles."

In the next moment the door flung open on its own accord and standing framed in the sunlight through the door was a bald headed man in dress pants and a shirt. His hands in his pockets, he seemed deceptively relaxed.

"I hope I didn't startle anyone, but I was tired of waiting out there," the man looked around and his eyes fell on Danny. Recognition flared on his face and Steve adjusted his grip on the weapon. "It is true. Remarkable."

"Who are you?" Steve asked, making sure Danny stayed where he was while he and Chin kept their weapons at the ready. Danny's gun was still on the floor in front of them. He hadn't had a chance to get to it yet.

"My name is Joe White." He dug in his pocket and brought out his ID. "I represent the Guild within Homeland Security. We've become aware of the situation out here and after countering various attacks on our network, they asked that I investigate. I'm aware of the CIA's unauthorized involvement. I'm here to officially make this a case for Homeland."

"You've got to be kidding me, please tell me you don't have a personal vendetta against Victor Hesse. I've had enough of those already."

White gave Danny a curious look and then answered, "No, I don't. I know Victor Hesse as a criminal that the Guild has wanted dead for over a century, but personally? No, I've never met him." White turned his gaze to Steve who still had his gun perfectly positioned to take White's head off if he wanted. "You must be Commander Steve McGarrett. I've heard good things about you. Please, there's no need for the weapon."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"I don't know what you're expecting me to do, but I'm just here to talk. I've been tracking Detective Williams for the last two days, since I arrived. I finally locked onto his essence about an hour ago. This is the first time it's been still since I began."

Steve turned his head slightly and saw the blush creep up Danny's face. There was no way to tell if it was related, but it was an hour ago that they'd been on the couch together. It would be yet another complication to find out that their being together solidified the magic in Danny, and it made Steve wonder. But there was no way he was going to let on to anyone that sex made Danny's magic brighter.

When Steve and the others in the room still didn't seem ready to believe Agent White, he tried again. "Please, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I know that whatever investigating you've been trying to do isn't getting you too far. I think I might be able to fill in some blanks."

Danny's hand reached up and covered Steve's on the gun. "Steve," he said carefully, the intent clear. Steve slowly lowered it but kept poised, ready to stand in front of Danny at a moment's notice.

"Please, sit," Danny motioned.

Chin turned to Steve, "Maybe it would be better if Max left, we don't want him in trouble for your escape. I can go check the area, make sure Agent White didn't bring any friends to the party."

Steve nodded and the other men left, pulling the door closed behind them. "Actually, it's Director White," the man said.

"You aren't the director of Homeland Security," Steve said.

"No, I'm a Director of the Guild. I liaise with Homeland. I've done similar work with the CIA and the Navy over the years."

"You said you had more information," Danny rubbed his hands together and Steve clasped them to him as he pulled Danny over, dragging him to sit on the footstool, giving Danny a chance to reattach his hip holster. He noticed White's eyes dart to the coffee table where the condoms were still sitting unused and was thankful Danny was too busy to notice, knowing he'd blush at the realization.

"Yes. The files you acquired from our system on the Shelburne Project. I'm sure you have questions." He looked at Danny.

"Well, for one, we didn't know its name. That must have also been under the big black marks covering the document. Pretty much everything on it was redacted except the date."

"Your birthday," White nodded.

"Apparently so," Danny answered.

"You have magic. You only recently discovered that you carry it and now you know the Guild did something on the day of your birth. Honestly, I'm surprised you're not more agitated about this."

"My life used to be simple. Wife, kid, job. Then it hit the shitter when I got divorced and she moved out here to pineapple hell. SInce arriving on this Island my life has been nothing but complications. I'm learning that whatever's around the corner is invariably worse than what I've already been through, so nothing you can say is going to surprise me."

"You think your life with me is hell?" Steve asked, head turned to Danny. He kept his hand clasped around Danny's arm.

Danny reached for Steve's free hand. "Did I say that? I didn't say that, I said it was complicated and you can't deny that."

"I was told that you were… close." White interrupted. "This may make things difficult. I've not seen a vampire intimate with someone with magic power before, the 'species' tend to avoid each other."

"Another thing to add to our pile of weirdness," Danny muttered.

"Do you know what Danny is? Has? I mean, what level he is with this magic? Guardian, Witch?"

White almost looked surprised at Steve's knowledge of the Guild's terminology for the strength of the practitioner. There was no doubt that Danny was more than a basic practitioner who could do little more than the odd spell and trick. It was more likely that he was a Guardian due to his 'serve and protect' nature but Jenna had mentioned before that Witches were the highest level and rare. Not so much was known about how their magic manifested but they had the ability to draw more power and were rumored to be the ones to originally create the spells practiced today by understanding how the power flowed through them.

"He's neither. All the things you think you know about magic comes from those who are born with the innate abilities and have trained at various institutions across the country since they were young. Detective Williams wasn't exactly born with it. If I'm right about how the project went awry, then he was sent it by us. We didn't mean for it to happen."

"What do you mean, you didn't mean it? How can you accidentally make someone a… whatever you think I am?"

"Witches are old and can live for a long time, longer than a regular human does because the magic sustains them," White began. "One such witch devoted the majority of her life to creating a spell so powerful as to give back life to others."

"Wait, to bring someone back from the dead?" Steve asked. He glanced at Danny, vague thoughts of Thomas running through his mind. Maybe there was more to the resemblance than they realized.

"Not exactly. Think of it more to do with healing, not bringing someone back. The spell is complicated, sounding quite vague but we interpreted it to be that we would create a 'key' that would then be protected by 'one of our own'. That's the wording we have."

"How can the spell be vague? Why not just ask the witch what she meant?" Danny asked.

"The spells come from the magic, the witch interprets the spell. Like it's a separate entity inside us, a witch can commune with the magic and interpret as best as he or she can. In this case, the witch asked the magic for a way to restore someone to how they once were. We hoped it could be used to cure cancers, diseases, degenerative conditions. It would be a huge breakthrough in medicine."

"Sounds impressive. But something went wrong?"

"Maybe not. I don't know. Nine Guardians assembled with the witch to try the spell. We understood that the magic was to be given to someone to be nurtured. It was to be protected while it grew. One of our Guardians was newly pregnant. We thought that if the magic was given to her unborn daughter, it would be nurtured by the child as it grew and protected by the mother, hence the child would be the key and the mother would be the one protecting her. After all, she was 'one of our own', they both were. We were wrong, the magic that was created dissipated."

"Why not try again?" Danny asked.

"Four Guardians gave themselves to create the magic necessary to pull off the spell. The magic was ripped from them and combined to be made into the key. The shock of losing that part of themselves... It was agony for them, I can still remember their cries. None of us wanted to put anyone else through it."

"You were there?"

"Yes. I watched the magic leave us. I remember how great the sacrifice those four men gave for it, and the disappointment and feeling of failure that the witch felt. She'd given decades of her life for the spell, she was convinced it would work and when it didn't, she was broken hearted."

"Wait, I'm confused. I get the whole idea of the project, and what went wrong, but how do I play into this? It may have happened on the day I was born but I was in Jersey. This happened, I assume, in Washington?" Danny waited for White's nod. "There's no magic in my family, nothing to involve me with the Guild in any way, so what have I got to do with it? Why would it hunt me out when it must have had a lot more kids to choose from?"

"Honestly, that part I still need to work out. But one thing I do know now is that the spell worked. The magic that was combined that night didn't want to go where we wanted it to, instead it sought you out and stayed hidden inside you until you came here. We need to work out what triggered that, too."

Danny rubbed at his face and Steve's arm around Danny's back tightened in moral support. Pieces of a puzzle were slotting into place but there were still questions. Steve didn't trust this man to tell him anything else, like the fact he could see Danny's magic glow.

Danny broke the hanging silence. "This is insane."

"I thought you said nothing would surprise you," Steve lightly knocked his shoulder against Danny, trying to make him smile.

"I'm not surprised, I just don't think he's right. I'm pretty sure he's insane."

"It's you, Detective. All the signs point to this, it makes sense."

"To you, maybe, but to me? No," Danny stood and paced away. Steve watched as he tried to get his thoughts in order, and not for the first time wished he could comfort Danny, calm his racing brain, take away any burden he might be feeling. "No, this whole magic thing? I've never wanted it. I just want to do the job I'm good at and raise my daughter. I didn't ask for this and I'd really rather not get involved."

Steve went over and bundled Danny in his arms. There was clearly more Danny wanted to let out but was careful of his words in front of White.

"Can't we just do all of this later? We're a bit busy right now what with needing to clear Steve of a murder charge."

"I did hear about that, I thought it might make my job easier," White stood and regarded them both. "With you being out of a job right now, Detective, I thought you'd be more willing to come with me to train."

At White's words Steve turned to him and bared his teeth. This was what he was afraid of, that the Guild would sweep in here and take Danny away from him.

"Your teeth don't frighten me, son," White spoke and Steve snorted at his nonchalance. And his use of the word 'son' when Steve was 4 times the man's age. "Detective, you need to train. The power in you needs to be harnessed and you can only do that with the help of the Guild. Your power is raw, vulnerable. If you're to fulfill your destiny you must come with me."

"Destiny? Bullshit. I don't believe in that crap and I'm needed here. Hey," Danny grabbed Steve's face again. "Stop it, rein it in."

White looked them over and seemed to come to a decision. "If I help you exonerate Commander McGarrett, will you reconsider?"

"No he won't, he's not going-"

"Wait, Steve," Danny cut him off. "Wait, if he can help prove your innocence, no, just listen to me," Danny wouldn't let Steve say anything. "Working with the Guild isn't nearly as bad as not seeing you because you're locked in a jail cell."

"Hesse, he's still out there."

"I know, but babe, there's no way I could stay in hiding for long, you know that. As much as I don't want to believe any of this magic crap, if they are right then I can learn some things that might help against Hesse. And maybe having their agents around would be a nice deterrent for Hesse too, okay? We can probably work out some kind of half decent deal here. I'd rather make sure you were on the outside with me. You're my priority, just like I'm yours."

Danny kissed Steve chastely after he gave an acquiescing nod.

* * *

They'd move themselves to Kamekona's back room. They'd been at Max's for a long time and felt the need to keep moving so as not to arouse suspicions by having the entire team hanging out at one apartment, their cars filling the lot outside. It was easier to blend in at the beach.

Director White sat in front of a laptop that he wouldn't let anyone look at over his shoulder. Steve sat in an old chair, occasionally rubbing against his heart where the wound was still healing. Danny paced nervously nearby. Jenna nursed the shave ice Kamekona had conned her into buying on the way in and Chin and Kono stood close by discussing what they knew about how far HPD were in the hunt for Steve.

"Okay, here's what I know," White began, almost surprising them with his announcement. "A certain agency, I won't name which one, has been keeping tabs on elected officials. They only pay attention to the taps if that official is accused of anything or there are rumors, etc."

"Are you saying Jameson is one of those who were checked on?" Danny asked.

"Yes, there's a camera in her office as well as one at her residence, in her study where she works."

Chin perked up from where he was by the wall, "If the camera is still there it might have caught what happened."

"I can't go, I need to stay hidden here," Steve said.

"I'll go," Danny started but Steve put a hand out to stop him.

"No, I need you here with me, Chin, take Kono with you, Director White, do you know where it's hidden?"

"No, the only information I have is that it's in there and would have a pretty decent view of the desk area on each side. They usually hide these things in everyday objects, but ones that won't be moved around the place… check light stands, clocks, things like that."

"Okay, we're on it," Chin said, nodding to Steve and beckoning Kono with him.

"We'll be back soon, boss," Kono added on the way out.

Steve turned to where Jenna was, "Kaye, you should take off as well, I don't want you getting in more trouble if anything happens. We need you to see if there's any chatter about Hesse. He'll know I'm out of prison by now and he might have surfaced somewhere."

"On it," Jenna nodded, taking a big slurp of shave ice as she headed out of the door.

There was silence in the room, it had an awkward edge to it. White leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, looking as if he was sizing Steve and Danny up. Danny was somewhere behind Steve and though he couldn't see him, he could sense his unease. Steve himself was keeping all his senses primed in case something happened, making him feel very on edge.

"You know," White began conversationally. "Your big friend out there is quite the entrepreneur. Told me all about his plans to open a shrimp truck, asked if I wanted to get in on the ground floor."

"Kamekona's good people," Steve said evenly.

"This whole team seems to be good people. You look out for each other, it's admirable."

"It's Ohana."

"That's Hawaiian for family."

Steve didn't respond to White again, just kept his eyes on him, sizing him up still.

Danny cleared his throat from behind Steve. "If this lead pans out, then I need to follow through on my half of the bargain."

White nodded and looked up at Danny as he moved to be by Steve's shoulder. "Ideally, you would fly with me to Washington. The Institute there is the best in the country, also the safest. We have the best equipment and that would help get to the bottom of things. Considering that you're worried about seeing your daughter, I'd be willing to organize her visiting you. Or I can look into relocating the whole family."

"I'm not uprooting my daughter. This is her home now, whether I like it or not. And I have Five-0, I'm not leaving the team. We do good work." Danny's hand rested on Steve's shoulder, the small connection between them holding Steve off from doing or saying anything he shouldn't.

White seemed to consider things. "You mean you won't leave McGarrett."

"That too," Danny's voice remained steady but Steve could hear his heartbeat speeding up, worried about what might happen to him, to them. If the Guild wanted, they could take Danny. The fact that White was negotiating was unexpected and they couldn't look the gift horse in the mouth.

"I could force you."

"You could tie my hands, put a bag over my head and lead me to a plane. You could force me away from my home and my family, but you can't force me to do anything with magic and you can't make me learn anything. Test me all you want, but that destiny crap you've tried to feed me? None of it will happen if you don't have my co-operation, so here's the deal - I will learn from you, I'll believe whatever you want me to, but we do it here, in Hawai'i. And it can't interfere with my job or my family."

As Danny finished, Steve reached his hand up and grabbed onto Danny's that was still tightly holding to his shoulder. White couldn't miss seeing how close they were and how resolute.

"I admire you, Detective, you have strength that doesn't come from the magic but is all yours," White leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Very well. There's a retreat on Mount Tantalus. It's quiet, secluded. I can speak with the other Directors and we can begin by testing your abilities there."

* * *

White could get nothing more from them at the moment. The man seemed adamant that his help would be the key piece in clearing Steve of the charges. He'd dropped his card on the table and told Danny to call him to make more arrangements.

Since he'd left, Steve and Danny had stayed quiet in the back room, not discussing anything more to do with the magic and still waiting on Chin and Kono, so there was nothing in Steve's case they could hash out.

Danny had pulled a chair up. He now sat awkwardly in it at the corner of the table, his hand in Steve's.

A far off sound of sirens began to wail, piercing the quiet and Kamekona rushed into the room. "We got company."

Steve and Danny darted to their feet, Steve checking out the window to see the cruisers beginning to arrive and surround the place. Danny joined him at the window, peering out. He recognized the man getting out of the unmarked car. Detective Chang. The guy was a bit of a hard ass, had never taken to Danny and had vocally been opposed to Steve's methods in the past. He was a good cop, just a pain. Which meant this probably wasn't good with him calling the shots out there.

"Steve McGarrett, we have the building surrounded. Come out with your hands up." The tinny voice came across the bull horn.

Danny turned to Steve, "What do you want to do?"

"Yeah, brah, just give us the word," Kamekona added.

"I need to go out there."

"Okay, bad idea, babe."

"I have to, Danno, I can't get you or Kamekona in trouble. I can tell them you had nothing to do with it, that I forced you."

"You know they won't believe that, not about me anyway. We just need to stall them until Chin and Kono come through with the evidence."

"You can tell them you forced me, brah. But with my prowess, they won't believe that either," Kamekona agreed with Danny. "Jersey is right, you gotta stall, man."

"We can't hide out in here. If they raid the place people can get hurt, you can get hurt," Steve paced a few steps, hands on his hips.

"Fine, okay," Danny was trying to think, fast. "I'll go out. I can tell them what's going on, get them to see our side of things."

"Danny-"

"It's the best idea we have, Steven."

"I don't like it, Danny-!" Steve tried to grab for Danny's arm but he'd already turned round and was headed to the door. Steve launched himself after Danny, but the smaller man had deftly slipped by Kamekona's large frame, and now the big man was in Steve's way just too long, and Danny made it out to the door before he could stop him.

He held his hands up after turning the handle, "Chang? It's Danny Williams…" He made his way out, hands in the air, "Steve didn't do anything, we're just trying to clear his name."

Danny didn't get a chance to say any more as Chang rushed forward, gun still pointed at Danny and with SWAT around them, he shouted at Danny to get on his knees. He complied, not wanting to get himself shot. As one of the other officers came with cuffs he looked up at Chang, his eyes squinting but he was pretty sure his look conveyed one of 'what the hell?'.

"Williams, you're under arrest for harboring a fugitive," Chang looked up to see Kamekona's bulk in the door frame, "Him too," Chang gestured for the officers to head back to the building.

"I'm not harboring anyone, McGarrett's not even here," Danny tried, but it was a lost cause when he heard Steve's voice coming from behind Kamekona, pushing the big man out the way and rushing out into the sunlight. Danny turned his head enough to see Steve halt and put his hands up.

"They had nothing to do with it, I forced them, do you understand me?" Steve said loudly for everyone to hear as the officers approached him.

"Steve, I told you to stay inside!" Danny shouted to him as he was lifted to his feet between two armed officers, the cuffs digging in painfully where they'd attached them too tightly around his wrists. He stumbled in their hold and they must have thought he'd tried to get to Steve because in the next instant he was being hauled backwards at an uncomfortable angle.

"Hey!" Steve roared, "What are you doing? Leave him alone!"

Steve lunged out of the hold they had on him, but it was short lived. He must have forgotten that he wasn't at full strength still and he wrenched his left shoulder in the process, the pull likely hurting his already damaged heart and he sank back down to his knees and was roughly kicked over onto his stomach while they tried again to get the cuffs on him.

Danny yelled Steve's name and got no response from him, but he could hear the breathy growls from the ground where Steve's face was mashed into the grass. Given another minute, Danny was sure he was going to fight his way out of this hold and over to Steve. He was also sure Steve would gather his strength and fight his way over to him. There was no doubt in Danny's mind that the whole thing could degenerate into a situation with bullets, which is why the sound of his Camaro pulling up was one of the most welcome he'd ever heard.

"Let them go!" Kono yelled, jumping out of the driver's seat.

"Get the cuffs off them!" Chin shouted after, making his way around. Chin went straight to help Steve up, while Kono came over to Danny. She touched his face, trying to gauge if he was okay, her eyes soft as she regarded him before turning to steel as she ordered him to be released.

The confusion around the officers was palpable, until the Lt Governor stepped in. "You have the wrong man, Detective. McGarrett's innocent. He didn't kill the Governor, he didn't kill anyone."

Denning nodded at Steve as he was released from the cuffs, then Danny caught his eye and there was nothing that could stop Steve rushing forward to him. He pulled Danny into his arms, hugging the life out of him before breaking away just enough to make sure Danny wasn't hurt.

"I'm fine, don't coddle me, it was nothing," Danny frowned at Steve, whose face hardened as he made it clear that nothing Danny said would make him worry less, and Danny should realize that by now. He did, he just knew that if he didn't argue back, that would probably worry Steve more.

Steve's hands made their way to either side of Danny's face. Between their bodies, Danny rubbed his wrists where they bore the indentations of the cuffs. In the next moment, Danny was smothered again, his hands trapped between their bodies as Steve pulled him back in, his head ducked into Danny's shoulder.

* * *

They watched the video together in the back room. They saw the whole thing, but the angle wasn't great, you couldn't see Hesse. Nonetheless, it proved that Steve hadn't killed the Governor.

"You can't see it's Hesse, you can't see his face."

"But the accent is a clear giveaway, surely," Danny put in from beside Steve.

"We've looked at some other footage from the night before. It shows Jameson and Hesse discussing how to frame you for the guard's murder," Chin said as they turned off what they'd watched. "We caught his face on it then too."

"It doesn't make a difference though, right?" Kono chimed in. "It proves you definitely didn't do it, boss, and on top of that, everyone knows Hesse is a wanted criminal, it doesn't change his status."

"Commander McGarrett," Denning moved forward, but was wary of Steve, whose hand ghosted out to cover in front of Danny. "You have my sincerest apologies for everything you've been through."

"With all due respect, sir, I don't need your apologies. What I need you to do is reinstate my Five-0 task force so we can of after this son of a bitch."

Denning crossed his arms, his eyes darting between Steve and Danny. "Well, there is no doubt that Five-0 had an impact on crime. So as Lt. Governor I'll grant your request."

"Thank you, sir."

"But," Denning continued, "there are conditions."

"What conditions?" Danny asked, having a feeling Steve wouldn't like this and frankly, they didn't need any more complications in their lives. Not today.

"Governor Jameson gave you full immunity and means to basically run roughshod over ever law on the State's books. That's not going to happen on my watch. You cross the line, you answer to me."

"Understood, sir," Steve said, clearly not happy but willing to do what it took to get Five-0 back in place. "But just so we're clear, sometimes we get put in positions where lives are on the line and we have to make split second decisions and when that happens? The line you're talking about gets a little hard to see."

"Fair enough," Denning nodded, holding his hand out to Steve who shook it without hesitation.

"I'll reinstate Lieutenant Kelly and Officer Kalakaua immediately."

"Don't forget about Detective Williams. He's been off grid for the past week, he didn't go back to HPD," Chin said.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible." Denning turned his eyes between Steve and Chin, practically ignoring Danny who stood up straighter, confused but ready to fight to be back on Five-0 as well. "Detective Williams has come to the attention of the Guild. I had one of their Directors on the phone this morning telling me they want him for some kind of special project."

"Son of a bitch," Danny said. It sounded like White had double crossed them, demanding Danny's time and using the new Governor to see to it.

Steve stepped forward, "We came to an agreement. Director White told us Danny would stay where he was."

"It's out of my hands, gentlemen," Denning backed away, "You need to take it up with him, but when Homeland Security and the Guild come to me with this kind of request, I need to honor it."

Danny kicked the door after Denning left. He was angry. No, he was livid. They'd made a deal that said Danny's life wouldn't be messed with and yet here was White sticking it to them and they hadn't even begun anything yet.

"Hey, hey," Steve enveloped Danny from behind and Danny was well aware, with the sound of Steve's soothing voice in his head, that it was ironic that he was the one being talked down from an angry ledge for once, and that Steve had somehow remained relatively calm through it. It was like they balanced each other out - only one of them could be angry at any one time.

"Why are you so calm?" Danny asked through gritted teeth, as he leaned back in Steve's hold.

He felt Steve's lips against his hair as he replied. "Because no one is taking you from me, I won't let them. Besides, the Governor said he got the call this morning, that was before we met White. I'm sure it's a misunderstanding. If it's not? Then we'll stop the son of bitch. Let's celebrate today's win."

"Urgh, it's been a long day," Danny moaned as his head fell back on Steve's shoulder. He felt Steve nod against him, but then he pulled out of their embrace, aware that there were others in the room.

"Celebrating sounds good," Kono said with a smile for them, "How about we start with some shave ice. I mean, since we're here and all."

"Steve's buying," Danny smiled.

"I don't have my wallet," Steve answered.

"Figures," Danny rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I broke out of prison and have been on the run all day. When did I have the time to get to an ATM?"

The others just laughed at him.

* * *

It had started as shave ice, then had become beers. Somewhere further down the line there had maybe been vodka, possibly rum and definitely tequila.

Danny wasn't sure exactly where the Camaro was but he thought it was still at Kamekona's. The taxi had brought them back to the house and he'd only thought about the car when he realized he didn't see it in the driveway. Steve's truck wasn't there either. He had absolutely no clue when they'd last seen that.

"We can use the GPS on it," Steve said. Danny realized he must have said something out loud. But GPS, of course, it was handy. They could find their vehicles in the morning.

Danny collapsed on the couch with a thud as he watched Steve carefully put the code into the alarm to reset it again. He giggled, though he refused to think of it as a giggle, but he couldn't help it as he thought back over the evening and absently ran a hand over his neck where Steve's bite marks were.

"What's up with you?" Steve asked, joining him on the couch and crowding him into the corner.

"Just thinking about your lame excuses, Smooth Dog. The last experiment on your ability to get contact drunk was inconclusive? Bite me," he said.

"I did," Steve smiled against Danny's neck, his fingers fumbling with the buttons on Danny's shirt, his mouth trailing after into Danny's chest.

"I think it's pretty conclusive now," Danny sing-songed. "You, my friend, are entirely too drunk, hey, hey, hey," he pushed against Steve. "Who said you were getting any tonight?"

"Danny," Steve attempted to look sternly at him. "You're talking too much, and the words you're using are too big. Shut up and let me drive."

"I am not a car, Steven, you don't get to drive me." Danny's argument wasn't working so well when his body was betraying him and opening up to Steve's touches. "Control freak, primitive buffoon," he murmured.

He lost himself in Steve's hands, his lips, his skin caressing Danny's, their clothes tangled around them, oppressing them. He moaned as they kissed. There was no hurry, there was no marking going on, this was purely for their enjoyment and they were taking their time through hazy, alcohol fuzzed brains.

Danny's eyes opened abruptly, his brain catching up to him. He captured Steve's face in his hands and looked at him earnestly. "Hey, what are we gonna do about this Shelburne thing?"

"The project?"

Danny nodded.

Steve shook his head, a hand running up and down Danny's arm soothingly. "Tomorrow, D, tomorrow. Right now? We're good, everything's good…" Steve smiled evilly, "and your ass is mine."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah," Steve's voice was low, breathy and it did things to Danny that he couldn't put into words. He smiled as he looked into Steve's playful eyes and realized that for now, everything was fine. Their problems, old and new, could wait until morning.


End file.
